The Pros And Cons Of GM Foods

A GMO is a genetically modified organism that goes through the process of genetic engineering. This is when genes of one organism are extracted, altered, and then artificially placed into another organism to then grow. We typically see GMOs in the food we consume every day. These foods include fruits and vegetables, however the most common organisms that are genetically engineered include, corn, soy, and cotton. It is ultimately the unnatural cross breeding of plants, animals, bacteria, and virus genes (Non-GMO Project). But now why is there a debate for placing a label to notify consumers of GMOs in their foods? Do we know the potential harm that GMOs can cause? We have the right to know what we are putting into our bodies and what is found in our everyday foods.

Many will argue that Genetically Modified Organisms(GMOs) are not safe for human consumption, however they are almost inevitable for our everyday food consumption. Some argue that the recent increase in gluten intolerance is caused by GMO foods (Argument against). Other state that the risk to humans by GMO’s is relatively small (The GMO”). The bottom line is what people put into their bodies is a personal choice and a person should be able to easily tell if a product has been genetically modified or not.

They often try to stay away from these genetically modified foods like corn, wheat, fruits and even in meat. It is said the GMOs consequences are largely unknown and once the genes have been modified, there is no going back. Though GMOs can be very helpful. Genetically modified organisms can provide and save plant waste by a bug resistant plant, survive in harsh climates and modify the size of plants. GMOs are safe for human consumption because we have been eating them for decades with no ill effects, but for people who don’t want to eat GMOs, products should show provide labeling. GMOs are safe to consume because they are simply an organism, like other organisms, have tens of thousands of protein, but two of those proteins are chosen to be modified by humans. Recently the FDA approved genetically modified apples to prevent them from browning and potatoes bruising. While people began to uprise to this change, the FDA claims that these new GMOs apples and potatoes are safe and nutritious to eat. The benefits of GMOs is the resistance to disease. Plants can now withstand harsh climates, make crops pest and parasite free, and eliminate bacteria in plants. Crops have become high in nutritional value, with high vitamins. For example, golden rice is packed with vitamin A which helps treat disorders. There is also environment benefits allowing livestock and crops to adjust to any environment. Lastly, it helps to boost our health foods add nutrients to our diet by incorporating essential minerals and vitamins, which helps keep future generations fit and

Many people don’t like the idea of GMO’s but scientists have found an alternative using the technique known as CRISPR-Cas9. This new technology allows scientists to change delete or replace dna much easier than before. Theoretically, this technology allows scientists to grow better, bigger and more nutritious crops in environments that could be unfit for vegetation . Because it is cheap and quick to produce, many scientist believe that it would be a tool to fighting world hunger, and malnourished countries could gain access to more nutritious food. Even though the CRISPR and GMO’s are modified by different processes, people are still skeptical about the edited foods despite the fact that 88% of scientists agreed that they are safe to eat.

Genetically modified organisms, GMOs for short, are becoming more popular in food around the world. Scientists take genes from some different organisms to add different qualities to specific crops, like corn. With that, however, comes many unfaced challenges like the cross fertilization of natural and modified organisms, resistence to pesticides, and health complications, to name a few. As GMOs are becoming more widespread, it is also becoming more evident that their presence is hazardous and they should be phased out of our food system.

People who support GM foods dismiss complaints that they might not be safe to eat. GM foods are likely to be more nutritious and contain smaller amounts of pesticide residues that foods raised by traditional farming methods. Food poisoning agents such as salmonella are natural and they kill thousands of people each year. Lots of plants produce powerful toxins to deter pests. With the technology of GM Crops including beans and cassava (a fruit grown in tropical countries) produce cyanide that can be removed before cooking. This is extremely useful for consumers to eat and for producers to make.

As I stated previously, GM crops yield more product than conventional crops. This is because they have been altered to use water more efficiently and to avoid the use of pesticides. On the other side, conventional crops need to be sprayed with pesticides which are absorbed into the crops and also create a run-off of toxins where as GM crops do not. The run-off from conventionally grown crops then causes pollution and leaks into the water, poisoning the water supply, and there’s no telling what the pesticides are doing to your body. For example, Monsanto, a company known for sustainable agriculture, created a new type of soybeans which have been genetically modified to not be affected by their herbicide product “Roundup”. A farmer will then grow the soybeans which will only require one application of the weed-killer instead of multiple applications, which will in turn reduce the production cost and limit the dangers of agricultural waste run-off. Crops have even been modified to resist diseases such as blight, grey mold, bunts, and powdery mildew. These are diseases which either kill the crops or stunt their growth. By using GM

humans. One of the health concerns about the rising use of GMO is due to the increase of different types of food allergy cases. In the “GMO: Pros and Cons” article, Colbert mentions the opponents of GMO claim that GM food can have the long-term adverse health effects on humans. She writes, “According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), food allergies in children under 18 years of age have increased; from 3.4 percent between 1997 and 1999 to 5.1 percent between 2009 and 2011,” (qtd.in Colbert). Furthermore, in the mid-1990s, there was a direct evidence to show the use of GM foods had caused some food allergy cases in America. Researchers found that a type of genetically modified soybean that was engineered to contain a strain of protein from Brazil nuts which caused allergic reactions in people with Brazil nut allergy (Colbert). Even though those soybeans were forbidden to sell in the market due to the study, the result has showed that GM foods have the potential to trigger some hidden allergic reactions, other than that particular food allergy (Colbert). On the other hand, although the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (“FAQ”) and World Health Organization (“WHO”) have required the GM foods to be tested for their ability to cause allergic reactions before selling in the market, those tests require a long time to complete in order to thoroughly investigate all the possible health effects on humans (Colbert). Therefore, before further

Some of the advantages of GM foods are that they are better for the environment. GMOs are adapted in such a way that many plants don’t require pesticides or other chemicals that impact on the earth. GMOs increase the flavour and longevity of the fruit. Another advantage which is probably in the best interest of society is that fact that it often decreases price of products and often becomes more affordable. Although research and testing is not cheap, once it is on the market the prices of your normal GM foods are substantially more affordable. With all the advantages comes the counter, disadvantage. GM foods often cause cross contamination where pollen from genetically modified foods are also contaminated. When GMOs are around other plants often the pollen can drift over to the wrong plants and create plants that have resistance to the conditions that were meant for the crops to be resistant to. Essentially GMOs potentially have the

Allergies: GM foods can create new allergens in our food. It can result in the increase of allergens known in the environment. It may also result in new allergens that are not known to humans. Thus creating health risks (Grant, 2013).

The first GMO foods were introduced to the market in 1994. It was the Flavr Savr tomato, developed and engineered by Calgene so foods had a longer shelf life by modifying their genetic code. Companies have fought on the other side of the battlefield, and falsely advertised that their products. A study published in Scientific Reports announced that products which contain GMO ingredients have lesser amount of nutrients than non-GMO products. In the las two decades organizations have fought to eradicate GMO products. Organizations such as GMO INSIDE are putting in their best efforts to make people aware of the dangers. One way they help open people’s eyes is by publish advertisements with strong visual images and emotional appeals. GMO INSIDE’s advertisement “Who’s making your baby a lab rat?” insinuates that parents should pay more attention to the ingredients in the food they buy for their babies. Through a cheerless image, and the rhetorical appeals of ethos and pathos, it points out that GMO ingredients are harmful for babies, for they do not provide enough nutrients.

Foods that are served to consumers have been altered with DNA from another organism. The food contains bacteria from plant and viruses from animal. The GMO foods make customers sick and have diseases. It makes consumers wonder are the foods in the grocery store healthy? Does it cause sickness in the body? Do customers even know what is in the food? Many of the farmers that consumers trust,put chemicals in the food. The food is considered to be Genetically Modified and it can be very harmful to consume. Genetically modified foods are also known as genetically modified organisms. Genetically modified food are engineered with random DNA from one organism to the other. Which contains different viruses, bacteria,and or other animals. In the U.S 80% of the foods we eat are genetically modified. Labeling the chemicals that are in the food is prohibited. These foods include rice, corn, wheat, soybeans, vegetable oil, soft drinks,salad dressings,vegetables, fruit, eggs, meat, chicken,other animal products and even baby formula. These are everyday foods. The main foods customers get from the grocery stores and the main foods that are served in fast food restaurants. Farmers have engineered our food for more than 20 years. Genetically Modified foods are harmful because people do not know what is in the food, genetically modified food affects human, and GMO affects animals.

GMO stands for genetically modified organisms this is an “organism or microorganism whose genetic material has been altered by means of genetic engineering” (Random House Dictionary) although GMO would produce foods and crops at a cheaper price all year round it would be unfair to animals if we speed up their natural growing process by injecting them with hormones. It would also not be fair to steel jobs from local farmers and replacing them with GMO plants and farms, lastly it is wrong to sell produce to the public without them knowing the side effects that come with eating GMO foods. At this time we can see 2 major groups of people liberals and conservatives. The liberals are open to this change and the conservatives are not open to this change. The issue with genetically modified foods are that it effects human health as well as our communities this can potentially cause serious problems to our health.

Organic food is any food that has not been treated with pesticides, ionizing radiation, antibiotics and or any foreign substance that can change the way the organism functions. GMO stands for Genetically Modified Organisms and they are the opposite of organic. GMO foods contain many chemicals that can cause some serious and some minor damage to anything.

Food is a quintessential part of life, as we eat food every day, from breakfast to dinner. Food provides our basic needs to support our body. Over the years, erratic climate changes have posed a significant threat to our supply of food. However, engineering science had allowed us to used Gene guns and Vat to grow food artificially, illuminating the threat to an unstable food supply, without nature affecting it. Scientists have discovered that by modifying its DNA, it could be stronger, more resilient, grow faster. It is named as genetically modified, also named as GM. However, there are concerns that GM food isn't safe. In this essay, I will discuss the pros and cons of GM food and how it will affect us in terms of our health, society, environment.