How can you tell if a food has been genetically modified?
Well, to be honest with you it's not very easy. It's so difficult to distinguish between GMOs and non-GMOs because currently the FDA does not require companies to label their food as GMOs. Some companies may label their food one way or the other to let their consumers know, but for the time being they are not required to do so. One thing you can do to help yourself out about organic food vs. GMOs is to educate yourself on GMO companies and what major crops they produce. For example, anything related with corn you can almost guarantee the product has been modified one way or another. Also, sugars and high fructose corn syrup are for the most part modified as well. They are also found in almost all processed foods.
There are many desired qualities one would want in their products they are selling, but as a consumer do they want them in their food? GMOs are great for making crops resistant to severe weather such as droughts or flash floods. Also GMOs are good for making crops resistant to disease/famine as well as resistant to many pests such as bugs that feed on the crops and can consume an entire field in hours. Like I touched on earlier, its great for the suppliers, but maybe not so good for the consumers. Companies like Monsanto make millions of dollars each year on the modified crops they produce. Monsanto and companies alike, patent their newly modified crops claiming it as their own inventions. Isn't that kind of weird? Take corn for example, if you can modify it somehow where it doesn't need as much water to grow, and you still call it corn, isn't it still corn? Apparently it's not. Monsanto does this all the time and ultimately takes over private farm industries because they are a large corporation with tons of power. I'm sure you guys know it gets very windy around this part of the world which increases the chance of cross pollination between GMO fields farmed by Monsanto, and non-GMO fields farmed privately by a family that's been doing it for generations. If that happens (which it does ALL the time and nobody can stop it) and Monsanto finds GMO crops on that private farmers fields, they can basically sue that farmer for using their crop without consent.
The negative side effects, as well as the unknown side effects are what is scary about these GMOs. I understand that world hunger and access to nutritional food is a major problem in today's world and GMOs do help the cause out, but at what costs? GMOs cause mutations within the natural structure of the organisms DNA. That's why they cannot be labeled "organic" because they are not natural. These inorganic foods could possibly have terrible side effects. They may not be noticed right away, but definitely noticeable as time goes by. Doctors and scientists are worried about creating new allergies as well as increasing cancer diagnoses. Even more severe forms than people have today. From personal experience, I am severely allergic to peanuts (yes, I've never enjoyed a PB&J). Having a food allergy is very dangerous and one needs to be aware of not only what they are eating, but also what the people around them are eating. With that being said, I'm sure you can understand the dangers of increased food allergies. Another worry is how it affects pregnant women and infertility, especially the affects it may have on the baby. GMOs are also known to decrease the nutritional value of the food. If that's the case world hunger may end, but people would still be malnourished if the food they are eating isn't supplying them with enough nutrients to be sustainable.
I'm not completely against GMOs. I just think what science has discovered so far is that the negatives are outweighing the positives. With that being said, I highly disapprove of major corporations such as Monsanto that are sought out to destroy private farming practices and wish to monopolize the agricultural industry.
Thanks for reading and have a great day!
http://enhs.umn.edu/current/5103/gm/harmful.html
http://www.scu.edu/ethics/practicing/focusareas/medical/conference/presentations/genetically-modified-foods.html
This post was very good. You did an excellent job bringing to light the use of GMOs. The comparison and contrast between the pros and cons also was very good. The picture of the top ten GMO foods was very shocking, as I would have never thought about that before now. Very interesting post, nice job!
ReplyDeleteI thought this blog was done well. I find myself not having too big of a problem with the cons of gmos. I do think foods should be labeled better, im sure there is some type of gmo chart the fda could develop for food products. I agree that the agriculture industry shouldn't be run by big companies. That could be a slippery slope if there turns out to be a real big problem with gmos.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with your view of GMOs. It's crazy all the things they can do to you and your body and people knowingly consume it. Someday maybe we will be able to find a better version of GMO and I think that would be awesome.(:
ReplyDeleteI really liked this post, and I agree with your view as well. The science of it needs to keep evolving to reduce the con's and bring more positives back to light. Really easy to follow this post, and I learned something new today.
ReplyDeleteGood post with great information on GMO's. With population growth across the world this topic will become more and more controversial as it becomes more and more essential. I agree with your views as well, that science needs to reduce the cons.
ReplyDeletePersonally from a person who knows nothing about GMOs, this is a very informative post. It's great to know about the battles that GMOs are incorporated in and the negative side to them. Great incorporation of images to get the idea across and great post overall.
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