Eating GMOs Isn’t Kosher for Anyone

Some indigestible facts you might not want to read over lunch

What do China, Maine, Connecticut, Chipotle, and Whole Foods have in common? They all think you have a right to know whether the food you are eating contains any genetically modified organisms, known as GMOs.

I like that. Why do I care? Because the genes in GMO plants have been altered in a laboratory to do something that the plant would not normally do. This means that Mother Nature did not deem it good. Mother Nature did not deem it good that a tomato should live forever in its fully ripened state, even after traveling around the world in a crate on a truck or boat or a plane, and sitting in a grocery store for days if not weeks. Mother Nature did not deem it good that corn should be able to kill insects while it grows. Mother Nature created insects. They are useful, whereas acres and acres of corn are not. Mother Nature created corn to feed birds and deer and the occasional human. Not to feed every livestock animal in the country or to sweeten the chemical concoctions that the soft-drink makers dream up.

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Comments

GMO

I'll venture a guess that you are against irradiated foods as well. If you don't like it, don't eat it. We don't need government intervention in everything we do. Let the market decide. I will go along with truth in labelling type things, but it should be standard practice, not required.

Iincorrect information regarding whether GMOs are Kosher

The author asks: "What do Judaism, the Church of England, and Saudi Arabia have in common? This one seems a little harder. But it turns out that all three prohibit GMOs." Not only is this not true, it is grossly misleading

This is hardly the forum for going into the intricacies of what constitutes Kosher. Countless volumes have been written on the subject. But the basic facts are these:

1. Genetic modification per se is not inherently against the laws of kashrut. Moreover, it is essential to distinguish among types of modification: such as direct gene manipulation and insertion of genetic material from one type of being into another. The insertion of purely genetic material taken directly from non-kosher creatures and inserted into otherwise kosher creatures is as yet an open question.

2. There is no one single organization that certifies whether a specific food product is or is not kosher. There is one particular certifying organization which focuses on organic foods and has declared it will not certify GMOs as kosher. There is another certifying organization that is combining programs for certification of food as non-GMO with other programs that it operates; however, their not certifying a food as GMO-free does not preclude the food from being kosher.

At this point there may be no consensus, but there is definitely no prohibition.