Last week I wrote about Roundup, with it's active ingredient Glyphosate, and how it is getting into our foodsource. 

In a recent independant lab test of popular breakfast cereals, nearly 90% of the cereals tested came up with trace amounts of glyphosate, but the report went on to say, don't be alarmed because the amount was well below the FDA and EPA allowable amounts. 

Now I don't know about you, but even though I use Roundup on my sidewalk, I do not want it in my breakfast cereal, in any amount, period. Roundup used as directed is safe, but they have warning labels on the back of the package for a reason.

 If you get it on you, you should wash it off with soap and water as soon as possible. You should NEVER ingest it, which includes having it in your breakfast cereal. 

And the only way it could get in your cereal is if your cereal is made from GMO grains that where sprayed with Roundup in the growing process, which make up to 90% of the grains available in this country today. 

I used to eat Cheerios in the morning because years ago when I started, the package said GMO free. But one day as I was eating a bowl of Cheerios, watching this story unfold on the news, Cheerios and other General Mills products were highlighted as most of them tested positive for glyphosate. 

So I rechecked my box and sure enough the GMO free labeling was gone and the fine print on the back said "partially made from genetically engineered products". Well that is it for me, no more Cheerios, now it is time to find another breakfast cereal or just go back to local farm fresh eggs. 

I have since found a another cereal by Cascadia Farms that is corn syrup free, as 98% of all corn syrup made in the United States is made from GMO corn and contains Glyphosate. All of Europe and China prohibit GMO grains from entering their countries, so why is it safe here and not there. 

China still allows lead based paint as they see that as safer than GMO grains. The bottom line is that letting our government say what is safe to eat is like letting the weasel watch the hen house. 

Every year local family farms, like our local dairy farmers, are being pushed out by government backed mega farms that produce mass amounts of questionable product at prices well below market value, although you would never know it this summer with the prices at the grocery stores. 

These mega farms get huge government subsidies which allow them to sell their product for less. Subsidies that are difficult to get for small farmers to benefit from. If you have the time check out the website https://farm.ewg.org/ where you can see the amount of farm sudsidies given by state from 1995 through 2020. 

 If you can't check it out, here is a quick for instance: New York farmers received 2.68 billion dollars in subsidies from 1995 to 2020, while Iowa received 35.5 billion dollars in subsidies, well over thirteen times that of New York. It is know wonder why family farms in New York are going out of business.

 But I digress, from talking about GMO's. Now not all GMO's are Roundup ready, although most are. One new GMO that I found to be interesting is an onion or rather a Sunion. BASFís vegetable seeds business in the Netherlands developed a tearless onion variety which has now been launched at supermarkets in France, Germany, Italy, UK, Canada and the U.S. under the brand name SunionsÆ. 

The yellow onion variety is a result of more than three decades of conventional breeding efforts. Its benefit: while onions usually become more pungent while being stored, this variety becomes milder and sweeter over time. But if you want to stay away from GMO's all together, I would suggest going to our local farm markets that are held throughout Sullivan County on different days of the week in different towns. You can find a full listing of these markets at www.sullivancce.org/agriculture/farmers-markets  This site is run by the Cornell Cooperative Extention of Sullivan County. 

Now the last thought of the week or last week, peanut allergies. Back in 2015, the NIH (National Institute of Health) published a study that found that introduction of peanut products into the diets of infants at high risk of developing peanut allergies was safe and led to an 81 percent decrease in the development of a severe allergic reaction later in life. 

So check with your pediatrician before breaking out Skippy or JIF just yet, but starting children earlier may lead to a happier childhood with less allergic reactions. Both of my grandchildren had some peanut butter by the time they were a year old and both of them loved it. In fact my oldest granddaughter likes to make special peanut butter and pumpkin puppy treats with my wife, because she, my granddaughter, likes to have a cookie or two fresh out of the oven. 

Now before I get hate mail that I'm promoting feeding kids dog treats, these cookies are healthier than regular cookies as they have less sugar and salt added. Other than that they are about the same as regular cookies. Our pets always eat better than we do, that's why they don't sell Doritos for dogs.