We've all heard the time-honored expression, “You are what you eat.” The saying can be traced back to the famous French lawyer and major foodie Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, who wrote the seven-volume The Physiology of Taste in 1826. Fundamentally what he was trying to get across is that the character of a human being-their attitude, morals, health and outlook on life-is determined by the foods they consume.
Keeping this food philosophy in mind, which would you rather eat?
1) A cabbage genetically spliced with scorpion venom to make it more bug-resistant and compatible with the herbicide Roundup
2) A button mushroom that will never turn dark and slimy in the fridge
3) Synthetic milk made from microbes grown in industrial vats filled with genetically modified (GM) corn or soy plus colorants, texturizing agents and other processed ingredients
4) An organic homegrown heirloom tomato from your garden
If you picked number four, you're in good company. One survey shows that US consumers are willing to pay 5 to 28 percent more for non-genetically modified products like oils and salmon than for products containing genetically modified organisms (GMOs).1 And the organic food market is expanding rapidly. In 2020, organic food sales in Germany rose nearly 25 percent and in France rose 12 percent. The UK saw a 30 percent increase between 2017 and 2021.2
The global market for organic foods overall is growing at a compound annual growth rate of 11.8 percent as consumers wise up about the importance of maintaining a strong immune system and become more aware of the debilitating health effects of herbicides, pesticides, preservatives, artificial ingredients, highly processed foods and bioengineered “frankenfoods.”
