GMO
Foods and Crops
Carter Sweet
What Is a GMO
GMO stands for genetically modified organism.
A genetically modified organism is an organism thats DNA has been altered to produce desired results. These results can range from making a plant need less water all the way to making a
pet not produce allergenic dander.
Why Do We Use GMO’s
GMO’s are, from what we know, mostly being used to quickly and
more cost efficiently produce food and
medicines for humans and animals. GMO’s can make plants grow faster, make them
immune to diseases, make them less susceptible to insects and more.
Fast Food
An industry that is thriving from the use of GMO’s is the fast food industry. It’s quite hard to find anything on the menu at a fast food restaurant that isn’t GMO made. Now, one would expect this with McDonalds, Taco Bell, and Wendy's type places, but even Panera uses GMO’s in almost all of their breads, bagels, etc. Organicauthority.com states, “the ONLY bread we found that was GMO-free: Panera’s rye.
Bagels are even worse than most breads or buns, and those burrito wraps… you don’t even want to know.”
What Companies Produce GMO’s
“The Big 5”
1. Monsanto-A company based in St. Louis, Missouri, started in 1901 to mainly produce plastics and fiber materials. Monsanto is said to now have the largest market of genetically engineered crops in the world.
“The Big 5”
2. Pioneer Hi-bred(DuPont Pioneer)- Located in Johnston, Iowa. The largest producer of
genetically modified seeds in America, also a large producer of genetically modified
organisms. Started as a corn seed company in 1926 by, future Vice President Henry Wallace.
“The Big 5”
3. Syngenta AG- Formed in 2000. A major
distributor of genetically modified seeds around the world. Employs over 28000 people
worldwide.
“The Big 5”
4. Dow Agrosciences- Owned by Dow
Chemical Company. Produces pesticides and genetically modified seeds. Also develops
plant cell produced vaccinations.
“The Big 5”
5. Bayer Cropscience-Bayer is mostly known for their medicine and drugs. Making insulin is a huge industry within the realm of GMO’s.
Bayer also has started to join in with the
production of genetically modified seeds/crops aswell.
Positives
The thoughts behind the use of GMO crops are solid. Why
not make plants more immune to bugs, pesticides,
drought, etc. Also crops can be made yield more, and look better. If we used GMO’s to their full potential one would think that we could stop world hunger help people in
poverty. The graph shows how much production has grown in recent years in corn and grain. I believe this is because of the use of GMOs.
Negatives
If you were to research how safe GMO’s are you would find mixed results and mostly not credible sources. Studies are mostly done by the big companies producing the GMO crops. They claim that there are no adverse effects related to the consumption of GMO’s. My problem with this is that they only know
there are no immediate negative effects. Also there are some statements
made by prior GMO company employees saying that the big companies are not telling the whole truth.
They have found that GMOs create an adverse effect on the digestion system.
They did research on animals that were fed GMOs and found it causes growth in the intestines and stomach.
Negatives
Some say that they are hiding how bad it can be if an unsafe GMO was to be released to the public. Pubmed.
gov states in a snippet of an article, “The health effects of a Roundup-tolerant, genetically modified maize were studied for 2 years in rats. In females, all treated groups died 2–3 times more than controls, and more rapidly.” It is said that this information was let out by an ex-Monsanto employee but there is no solid evidence.
My Opinion
In my opinion, GMO’s are great idea. I believe that if they were controlled and labeled properly our world could thrive off of the use of GMO’s. It could make food cheaper and more available. Having said that, i also believe that we need to do more long term research on the human body after using GMO’s. We need to make sure long term use won’t lead to digestive problems or other adverse effects.
General Public Opinion
In my research I have found that most people are either
strongly for GMOs or strongly against them. There are few people, like myself, who don’t know where they stand,
which I think is strange. I don’t believe that the public has enough information on the issue. I think we all need some nonbias research before the public will really make up their mind. One thing that the general public is sure of is that they would like to have GMO foods labeled so that they know what they are eating.
Bibliography
● http://enhs.umn.edu/current/5103/gm/harmful.html
● http://classes.soe.ucsc.edu/cmpe080e/Spring05/projects/gmo/benefits.htm
● http://sites.middlebury.edu/politicalecologyofgmos/project/public-opinion-of- genetically-modified-organisms/
● http://www.watchusgrow.org/illinois-farm-families-blog/not-so-fast-panera
● organicconnectmag.com
