Neil Young vs. Starbucks

The other day Neil tweeted about Starbucks from his personal twitter account. He said; "#StarbucksRedCup is simply a red warning cup - to let you know you're drinking GMOs - go #organic #Starbucks & stop fighting #GMOlabeling" (Note- this is a direct quote from Neil Young's personal twitter account). 

Neil has been fighting for GMO labeling for a long time now, for those of you who don't know, GMO labeling is when a company puts a label on the food or product they make saying it contains genetically modified or engineered food. This means the food could contain potentially harmful modifications, we don't know. It's also important to note here that there have been no long-term studies done on the effect on humans of eating large doses of GMO foods. However, the health benefits of eating organic foods are well known and documented. 

Most of the world requires food to be labeled if it contains these modifications, but the U.S. doesn't. Neil has been working for a long time to change this, and his tweet is just his most recent way of bringing awareness to Americans. 

Personally, I'm a little torn about GMO warnings. On the one hand, I want to know what's in the food I'm putting in my body. I don't want any strange chemicals in there. But, on the other hand, we've been eating food that has been modified for a long time. For example, almost all corn sold in the U.S. has been modified. And all the modified food I've ever eaten was approved first for human consumption. 

I think the biggest thing to remember here is that we don't know everything there is to know about this topic yet. More research needs to be done before any conclusions can be made. Remember though, unless the food you are buying says it is 100 percent organic, there is probably a pretty good chance it's ben modified in some way.

However, I think it is admiral of Neil to stand up for what he believes in so strongly. And, more importantly, he uses his influence and popularity to teach others about topics he is passionate about.