Amazing presentation by Courtney Swan, integrative nutritionist

"My name is Courtney Swan. I have a master's of science in nutrition, and I host the Real Foodology podcast. And thank you so much for listening to us today. Our food is being tainted by dangerous chemicals, and it's making us sick. In 2009, I started to get debilitating stomach aches. I bounced around between specialists with no clarity for two years, until 2011, when I was diagnosed with a gluten intolerance. I was also at the time, I was also told to avoid corn and soy which are common food sensitivities amongst my generation. Unfortunately, my story is not unique. Clueless to how this was connected to our food system, I started to do some digging. What I found was alarming. Our current agriculture system origin story involves large chemical companies, not farmers, chemists. 85% of the food that you're consuming started from a patented seed sold by a chemical corporation that was responsible for creating Agent Orange in the Vietnam War.
Why are chemical companies feeding America? Corn, soy, and wheat are not only the most common allergens, but are among the most heavily pesticide-sprayed crops today. In 1974, the US started spraying our crops with an herbicide called glyphosate. And in the early 1990s, we began to see the release of genetically modified foods into our food supply. It all seems to begin with a chemical company by the name IG Farben, the later parent company of Bayer. Farben provided the chemicals used in Nazi nerve agents and gas chambers. Years later, a second chemical company, Monsanto, joined the war industry with a production of Agent Orange, a toxin used during the Vietnam War. When the wars ended, these companies needed a market for their chemicals. So they pivoted to killing bugs and pests on American farmlands. Monsanto began marketing glyphosate with catchy name Roundup. They claimed that these chemicals were harmless and that they safeguarded our crops from pests. So farmers started spraying these supposedly safe chemicals on our farmland. They solved the bug problem, but they also killed the crops. Monsanto offered a solution with the creation of genetically modified, otherwise known as GMO crops that resisted the glyphosate in the roundup that they were spraying. These roundup ready crops allow farmers to spray entire fields of glyphosate to kill off pests without harming the plants but our food is left covered in toxic chemical residue that doesn't wash, dry, or cook off. Not only is it sprayed to kill pests, but in the final stages of harvest, it is sprayed on the wheat to dry it out. Grains that go into bread and cereals that are in grocery stores and homes of Americans are heavily sprayed with these toxins. It's also being sprayed on oats, chickpeas, almonds, potatoes, and more. You can assume that if it's not organic, it is likely contaminated with glyphosate.
In America, organic food by law cannot contain GMOs and glyphosate, and they are more expensive compared to conventionally grown options. Americans are being forced to pay more for food that isn't poisoned.
The Environmental Working Group reported a test of popular wheat-based products and found glyphosate contamination in 80 to 90 percent of the products on grocery store shelves. Popular foods like Cheerios, Goldfish, Chickpea Pasta like Bonza, Nature Valley Bars were found to have concerning levels of glyphosate. If that is not alarming enough, glyphosate is produced by and distributed from China. In 2018, Bayer bought Monsanto. They currently have patented soybeans, corn, canola, and sugar beets, and they are the largest distributor of GMO corn and soybean seeds. Americans deserve a straight answer. Why does an agrochemical company own where our food comes from? Currently 85 to 100% of corn and soy crops in the U.S. are genetically modified. 80% of GMOs are engineered to withstand glyphosate. And a staggering 280 million pounds of glyphosate are sprayed on American crops annually. We are eating this Roundup Ready corn, but unlike GMO crops, humans are not Roundup Ready. We are not resistant to these toxins, and it's causing neurological damage, endocrine disruption. It's harming our reproductive health, and it's affecting fetal development. Glyphosate is classified as a carcinogen by the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer. It is also suspected to contribute towards the rise in celiac disease and gluten sensitivities.
They're finding glyphosate and human breast milk placentas, our organs, and even sperm. It's also being found in our rain and our drinking water. Until January of 2022, many companies made efforts to obscure the presence of GMOs and pesticides in food products from American consumers. It was only then that legislation came into effect mandating that these companies disclose such ingredients with a straightforward label, stating made with bioengineered ingredients, but it's very small on the package.
Meanwhile, glyphosate still isn't labeled on our food. Parents in America are unknowingly feeding their children these toxic foods. Dr. Don Huber, a glyphosate researcher, warns that glyphosate will make the outlawed 1970s insecticide DDT look harmless in comparison to glyphosate. Why is the US government subsidizing the most pesticide sprayed crops using taxpayer dollars? These are the exact foods that are driving the epidemic of chronic disease.
These crops heavily sprayed with glyphosate are then processed into high fructose corn syrup and refined vegetable oils, which are key ingredients for the ultra processed foods that line our supermarket shelves and fill our children's lunches in schools across the nation. Children across America are consuming foods such as goldfish and Cheerios that are loaded with glyphosate. These crops also feed our livestock, which then produce the eggs, dairy and meat products that we consume. They are in everything.
Pick up almost any ultra-processed food package on the shelf and you will see the words, contains corn, wheat and soy, on the ingredients panel. Meanwhile, Bayer is doing everything it can to keep consumers in the dark while our government protects these corporate giants. They fund educational programs at major agricultural universities, they lobby in Washington, and they collaborate with lawmakers to protect their profits over public health. Two congressmen are working with Bayer right now on the farm bill to protect Bayer from any liability despite already having to pay out billions to sick Americans who got cancer from their product. They know that their product is harming people. Chronic illnesses are on the rise and half of our population is obese. This is a national security issue. 77% of young Americans are ineligible for military service. We have industrialized our food at the expense of our health, prioritizing profits over people to the point where our bodies can no longer cope with this chemical assault. We must stop subsidizing the foods that make us sick. We must prioritize people over profit. This isn't just about policy, it's about survival. Let's create a future where our food system is designed to nourish us and not destroy us."