I am really thinking a lot of problems today, like peanut allergy and autism might be related to the genetically modified foods.
http://www.hulu.com/watch/67878/the-future-of-food
Whereas I think there are generally too many lawyers *period* (and big corporations who fuel them), I'm not sure I could ever agree that GM foods are to blame for the health woes we see. Many many of the GM products have been quite positive. Russet and scab resistent apple varieties (in my industry) replace the need for fungicide applications, for instance. I had to laugh that the video said there were only 4 potato varieties any more. Has that producer been to the supermarket lately? Maybe 4 colors to choose from!
If any foods are to blame for chronic health problems, convenience foods would be at the top of my hit list. We live in a society where everything has to be highly preserved, fast or super tasty. People w/ health issues (including nasty allergies, asthma, and morbid obesity, etc) are going to all ends to have children, and we wonder why those kids are unhealthy?
If environment is to blame, maybe we're looking in the wrong direction. When I was a kid (in the era of DDT, parathion, etc, btw), I'd take hikes out thru our orchard, climb a few trees, wipe the spray residue off an apple on my sleeve or pants and eat it when I got hungry (again, residues that were FAR more nasty than today's "soft" chemicals), go back to the river flats and collect sassafras root for tea or wildflowers or leaves... get a mean game of ice hockey going w/ neighbor kids on the frozen river flats, you name it. We could entertain ourselves for hours and our parents never worried about us. Kids don't do that kind of stuff anymore. I wonder if they get enough natural sunlight and fresh air sitting in front of the "Boob tube" or playing with all their computer games etc..
JMNSHO, and yes, I work in the ag industry and though I don't agree w/ everything we do w/ our food supply, I do believe that our ag commodities are much safer and healthier today than it was 20-30 yrs ago. My dogs also eat a TON of apples and pears every fall... and I'm not seeing any negative health issues like so many complain about. Anne