Sharing the Sweet Truth about GMOs with Free Ethos Chocolate

This is a sponsored post by A Fresh Look. Read on to find out how to get some of your own Ethos Chocolate for free. All reviews and opinions expressed in this post are based on my personal view.

Did you know there are only 10 types of crops that have a GMO variety? Yep, that's it. Yet you can find that non-GMO label on just about anything even things like salt that can never be a GMO. This can make things a little more than confusing. That's why I have decided to team up with Ethos Chocolate to help share the sweet truth about GMOs. Ethos Chocolate uses different flavored chocolate to help tell the stories about why GMO crops were created. These chocolates are flavored with the cacao bean, papaya, orange, apple and sugar beets each with its own story. You can order your own box of Ethos Chocolate for FREE! Treat yourself or share with a friend! And read below for more on each flavors' story. 

Why GMOs? 

Many GMO crops were created out of necessity. Farmers needed their crops to be resistant to viruses, use less water, or produce fruit that lasted longer. And in many cases, GMOs were the answers to these problems. In the case of the Hawaiian Papaya, almost the entire papaya crop was wiped out in the 1990s by the deadly ringspot virus. Working with universities and the Hawaii Department of Agriculture, the farmers created a genetically modified papaya that is able to resist the virus. This GM papaya saved the entire Hawaiian papaya industry. That's why the papaya flavored chocolate from Ethos is called "The Survivor".For sugar beets, the GM sugar beet reduces the amount of water used, requires fewer herbicides and grows more tons per acre while improving soil health. With conventional sugar beets, the biggest problem farmers faced was weeds, but with the GM variety farmers are able to apply fewer chemicals less often to control the weeds. GM sugar beets also promote low or no-tillage farming which has shown to improve soil health. But with more companies like Hershey putting the pressure on for non-GMO ingredients including sugar beets, farmers are facing the tough reality of possibly going back to the conventional crop.This is an issue. With our growing world, we need to be maximizing yields with fewer inputs while improving soil health. Not doing the opposite. We should be making decisions about our crops with sound science not marketing scare tactics. GMO crops have been proved to be as safe as any alternatives while providing the exact same nutritional benefits. 

What about the environment?

When talking about GMOs, many people are worried about their impact on the environment. But we know that GMO farming practices are good for the environment. The story of the Arctic Apple helps share exactly how the environment can benefit from GM crops. The apple flavored Ethos Chocolate is called "The Trendsetter". It is inspired by the game-changing apple that can reduce food waste. GM apples are non-browning apples that are able to stay fresh longer.Right now in the United States, 40% of the food we produce is thrown out. That means every American throws out at least one pound of food every day! This is what we call food waste. We can reduce this waste by having food that lasts longer just like the Arctic Apple. GM crops can also cut down on the amount of fuel needed to grow crops. With all of these GMO farming practices, we have reduced the equivalent of nearly 500 billion pounds of carbon dioxide pollution from the air. And that's with only 10 GM crops. Imagine what more we could in the future!

Valentine's Day Chocolate

Do you love chocolate? I know I do! But did you know that with changing climates, the cacao bean crop has a less than sweet future? With current climate changes and diseases that threaten the cacao tree, it is endangered. Thankfully GM cacao trees may be the solution for this sweet treat. Ethos Chocolate calls the cacao flavored chocolate bar "The Optimist" because GM technology can save this crop for the future. Each flavor of Ethos Chocolate shares the story of the GM crop used as inspiration in making the chocolate. There is so much confusion surrounding GMOs. And Ethos Chocolate hopes to use these chocolates to share the sweet truth about GMOs. For this Valentine's Day, I encourage you to order a box of Ethos Chocolate for free from here! Enjoy some for yourself or send a box to a loved one to help spread this sweet truth with others. Udderly in love with chocolate,New Mexico Milkmaid