The Pros And Cons Of Gmo Foods
Food has been one of the three requirements of life for humans since the birth of a person. Centuries ago, production of food only consisted of hunting, harvesting and farming, and usually it would take a long time before these foods arrived at the dining tables of families. However, toady, technology has allowed the mass production of food. Unfortunately, the market has taken advantage of technology, not letting us know how food is made, leading to the birth of genetically modified Organisms (GMOs). GMOs are widely used in a range of foods today. Though most people are unaware of this, GMOs even exist in some of their favourite food products, especially fast foods. Many reports and illnesses have arised from the consumption of GM-foods, specifically
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The purpose is to alter the genetic code in plants and animals to make them more productive or resistant to pests or farming techniques, like being doused with chemicals that would normally kill them (Foodstandards.gov.au, 2015). Some of the benefits of genetically modified crops are that genes can be inserted that cause the plant to be resistant to many harmful things such as weeds, insects, and disease (Classes.soe.ucsc.edu, 2015). This would allow for less herbicides to be used on the crops and more crops to survive and produce food. Crops can also be modified to have a longer shelf life in stores, grow in dryer/colder climates, be resistant to pests, and even to have increased nutritional value.
There is a corporation called Monsanto that owns patents of many GMO seeds in the US. They claim that there foods are harmless and point to studies- many of which the company itself has conducted- demonstrating the safety of the products produced (Monsanto.com, 2015). These studies however have been widely critiqued for obvious bias, and I agree with those assessments. The Monsanto studies only prove that data can be manipulated, not that the products are safe. So, without high quality, objective information, the debate quickly turns into a he said/ she said
The purpose is to alter the genetic code in plants and animals to make them more productive or resistant to pests or farming techniques, like being doused with chemicals that would normally kill them (Foodstandards.gov.au, 2015). Some of the benefits of genetically modified crops are that genes can be inserted that cause the plant to be resistant to many harmful things such as weeds, insects, and disease (Classes.soe.ucsc.edu, 2015). This would allow for less herbicides to be used on the crops and more crops to survive and produce food. Crops can also be modified to have a longer shelf life in stores, grow in dryer/colder climates, be resistant to pests, and even to have increased nutritional value.
There is a corporation called Monsanto that owns patents of many GMO seeds in the US. They claim that there foods are harmless and point to studies- many of which the company itself has conducted- demonstrating the safety of the products produced (Monsanto.com, 2015). These studies however have been widely critiqued for obvious bias, and I agree with those assessments. The Monsanto studies only prove that data can be manipulated, not that the products are safe. So, without high quality, objective information, the debate quickly turns into a he said/ she said