Salsa & Chips, it's not so simple anymore

For Cinco de Mayo last week I brought in fresh organic roma tomatoes, cilantro, jalapenos, limes, garlic, avocados, and scallions to make salsa with the kids. And of course, I brought in chips for the class.

• 4 ripe roma tomatoes, chopped
  
• 1 avocado, chopped
  
• 1 bunch cilantro, chopped
  
• 1 lime, fresh squeezed juice
  
• 1 garlic, chopped
  
• 1/4 jalapeno, chopped fine
  
• sea salt
• 2 scallions, chopped
  

Mix and enjoy as a topping or with chips. You can cuisinart it if you like it less chunky.

They did an outstanding job chopping and making their own salsa. We talked about the different flavors, smelled and tasted. I helped share information with this bright group of third and fourth graders about the differences between organic and conventional and why our family doesn't eat certain things, especially those made of conventional corn. Eating salsa and chips isn't a simple task for us anymore as we have to search for organic corn chips or at least those labeled non-GMO.

In the U.S. there are no labeling requirements when a product contains anything genetically modified. Corn and Soy are the top two crops that are genetically altered. Therefore, corn chips are most assuredly GMO if they are not labeled organic.

Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) or Genetically Engineered (GE) foods involve a scientific process that alters the very genetic make-up of a plant by introducing new DNA into the nucleus. Genes from humans, bacteria, viruses, other plants, and even animals are spliced into the seed. The effects of these changes have not been fully tested on our environment, nor on our health. Europe has banned GMOs but here in the U.S. we have to search and read labels carefully.

The organic label is a good place to look to make sure the products we choose are not GMO. By definition, organic foods cannot be genetically altered.

My rule of thumb to people just starting to change their eating habits is to choose organic particularly for those things that your family eats most and especially those products that contain any soy or corn in them. And corn is in almost every processed food under the label of a variety of things including:

• in Baked Goods that contain Baking Powder or Confectioner’s/Powdered Sugar
• Vegetable Oil, Corn Oil, Corn Syrup, Cornmeal, Cornstarch, Starch
  
• Fructose And Fructose Syrup
  
• Maltodextrin & Dextrine
• MSG - Monosodium Glutamate also listed as Autolized Yeast Extract

Corn is even ingested by us second hand and a majority of it goes for animal feed so be wary of:

• Grain-fed Poultry
  
• Grain-Finished Beef
• Vegetarian-Fed Eggs

Choose pastured, grass-fed, and organic for a variety of reasons not the least of which is to avoid GMO corn.

It may not be simple anymore to find and enjoy chips and salsa, but armed with some knowledge, we can protect ourselves and crunch away!

This post is part of the No GMO Challenge - JOIN US!