Purpose: Students will be more conscious and aware of genetically engineered products in their diet. Only those labeled as not, you could be sure, are not.
Objective: Students will read labels of food items in the house and note (write down) things that are labeled not-genetically engineered.
Students will go to the store and find at least 5 items that say that they are not genetically engineered. They may have to go to a natural foods or health food store like Edge of the Woods in New Haven or Nature’s Way in Stratford.
Materials: Notebook, pencils, transportation to a grocery and/or natural food store
Procedure: 1. Ask the students have they ever heard of genetically engineering?
2. Each student is to go to the store or stores and write down the Brand name, item itself, and the name of the store the genetically engineered product was found.
3. Research what genetically engineering is and write the definition.
Conclusion: Was it easy to find non-genetically engineered products? Where were mostof them located?
That brings me to the topic of Pesticides. Sure most of the previous paragraphs have encouraged the increased use of fruits and vegetables, but aren’t most, if not all, of these affected by some pesticides? I will address the issue through the use of the following summary of an article I read.
In the article, How to Avoid Pesticides by David Schardt, in the Nutrition Action Health Letter, June 1997, we find ourselves in a quandary over the necessity of eating a wide variety of fruits and vegetables and avoiding the affects of the possible residue content on most of them. Buying organic would help, but at this time our choices are few. This is improving.
“But the answer is surprisingly simple: The evidence that fruits and vegetables help protect against heart disease and cancer is far stronger than the evidence that pesticides cause cancer and other health problems.”
Pesticides and herbicides have been proven to impair the immune system, affect the nervous system of people of all ages, and be at the root of many cancers. They gain entrance to our bodies, not only through fruits and vegetables, but also through our drinking water as well and fatty meats, fish, and dairy products. It’s not as evident in grains, except for rice grown in Southeastern U. S., due to the milling process.
Imported produce tends to have more residue then the local produce, but to be safe, wash all produce thoroughly with clean running water before cooking and eating them. The FDA, the organization responsible for monitoring this, seems to be a little less than adequate in catching the illegal residues due to the lack of funding.
