Ridding ourselves of GM foods

Genetically modified (GM) food is flooding our grocery store shelves. GM crops raise a plethora of questions as to potential impacts on our health and the environment.
David Suzuki, whose scientific field is genetics, has come out adamantly against the use of GM foods in our diet. He points out that North Americans are the guinea pigs for the world.
When Canadian environmental groups such as Greenpeace and the Sierra Club fought to have GM foods labeled so consumers would know what they were eating, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency refused.
In fact, they put out promotional material promoting the consumption and cultivation of GM foods as safe.
Across the Atlantic, the European Community has banned the cultivation and retailing of GM foods, but Canadians continue to blindly consume GM foods.
Ultimately, the problem lies in the globalization of our industrial food supply and a cheap food policy. The link between the foods we eat and the farmers that grow it has been lost.
The family farm is largely considered a relic of the past. But it doesn't have to be this way. In Saanich, a number of small organic farms produce a bounty of fresh produce year round.
The solutions are two-fold; one is supporting small local farmers and purchasing organic food at the grocery store, the other is applying political pressure to our government for a complete ban on genetically modified foods.
Until we understand the long-term implications, we shouldn't be forced to eat food that we don't know to be safe.