Jamie Sutherland
To the Editor
I am very concerned about genetically modified foods and I love the articles you publish in your paper. I started buying the paper for that reason and have grown to love it. I get so excited when the new issue comes out every couple of weeks.
When I first started reading about GMO’s I thought that it was mainly in the US or only in the “big brand” foods, like Kraft and Kelloggs for example, but have come to the realization that’s not the case. It’s hard to find anything where the ingredient list does NOT contain corn, soy or canola. One of the first things we switched was the milk that we were buying for our kids. Organic milk seemed much too expensive at over $6 for a 2l jug, so we thought we’d go with at least a local New Brunswick milk – Northumberland. After speaking with a local dairy farmer about what he fed his cows, I was kind of shocked to learn it was genetically modified corn and he also uses round-up to spray his crops. I also learned that out of the 100% corn he fed his cows that only 80% of it was allowed to be GMO and the other 20% had to be non-GMO. What kind of regulation is this, and what is the significance of reducing the amount of GMO corn by 20% in the cows’ diet? His milk from the farm got shipped to be sold for the Northumberland brand. After learning that, we only buy organic milk now.
I am more curious to know about the local brands that use GMO ingredients like Northumberland, and people think by buying those brands they are doing our community/province such a tremendous favour by supporting local. And, what about the President’s Choice brand that is sold at Atlantic Superstores? We as NB’ers should be trying to push for our food to stay clean.
Many people are unaware of GMO dangers, and I also find it very difficult to try and encourage people to choose healthier options. I’ve found most people’s attitudes to be very negative or just plain carefree. I have actually heard people say they’d rather not know what’s in their food – imagine! But when it comes down to it, I’m sure money is the issue. Look at where we live and what our economy is like. It’s hard for most people to spend that amount on food each week. Our family is by no means “well off”, but buying cheap food is not an option for us, especially for our children. They have been my inspiration to eat healthy and educate myself about what is in our food. I truly believe the great health our children have now is because of the good food they eat.
We live in Plaster Rock and have two small children, 4 years old and 19 months old. We have to travel to Grand Falls once a week to do our groceries because they just don’t have the foods available here that we choose to buy. The Save-Easy flyer this past week had organic apples on sale, but the store actually did not have any. In fact, I don’t think they had any organic produce at all and they most definitely never carry organic milk. I have become very picky with what we feed our children, and I hate having to settle for what’s available in town here if I can’t make it to Grand Falls.
Jamie Sutherland
Plaster Rock
