This post is sponsored by the Texas Corn Producers, the USDA & the Water Grows initiative, however, all the opinions expressed below are 100% my own true & honest opinions!
When the Texas Corn Producers extended the invitation for the Field To Fork event, I was very intrigued and wanted to learn more. I grew up loving corn, in fact, one of my biggest pregnancy cravings is Mexican street corn, but there was one question that lingered in my mind that I had been asked before, is GMO corn bad?
GMO stands for Genetically Modified Organism, and my knowledge on what a GMO was pretty limited to small things I had heard but not really looked into. The general population's consensus though is that it's something to stay away from, why? Because the information that is out there isn't exactly clear. So when I heard we were being invited onto the Schronk family farm to talk to the farmers that are actually producing the food we eat, I was excited. I finally get to ask a farmer himself tell me his thoughts on GMO's.
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| Rodney Schronk |
As began my journey through the Schronk Family farm surrounded by fields and fields of corn in Hillsboro, Texas I realized that I've become so far removed from where my food comes from. The last time I had stepped foot on a farm was when I was little and on my great grandpa's ranch in Mexico. This is probably the case for most of us city folks! I also came to the realization that as a mom what my family eats is generally up to me. So arming myself with the most accurate information as possible was my goal for the night, not only for myself but for my family.
Take a good look at the picture above. I watched Rodney Schronk pull the first piece of corn, the corn on the left, from the field on his farm with my own two eyes. The first 4 rows he planted with his brother the old school farming way, as he described it, by using a non-GMO seed. This is what you would call 100% organic corn. The corn on the right was corn he grows and uses mostly for animal feed. 1 out of every 10 non-GMO corn is ok to eat, but because the corn isn't resistant to the worms that like to burrow in the corn the worms kind of run wild in the corn and leave their fecal matter which leaves the corn riddled with mold and mildew. Something that is definitely not safe for human consumption. This kind of farming wastes not only time but valuable resources like diesel, water & labor.
So why exactly is this called GMO Corn? Because the seeds they used to plant the corn came from a stalk of corn that was modified to be resistant to a virus called BT (Bacillus Thuringiensis). So when the worms try to eat from the corn they can't digest it and they leave the corn alone. Not only is this better for the environment, because we've reduced the amount of pesticide we're using but also not using as many resources as we were before to grow the crop making it better for the environment. As technology and science have evolved why shouldn't the way we farm advance?
GMO's are not bad, and can ultimately help us improve our environment! As mother's it's important that we research the products we buy and ultimately the food we feed our families. We live in a time where there is an overabundance of food for us but just by reconnecting to the literal roots of where our food is coming from and the families that are growing the food we eat, we can learn to trust the food we're putting in our bodies!
I hope that you leave my blog today having learned something new!
A huge thank you to the Schronk family for opening their farm to us and to the Texas Corn Producers the USDA, & WaterGrows for the invitation!
Want to do more GMO research? This video breaks it down pretty perfectly!