GMO's... Healthy or Hurting?

2/11/2019

GMO foods have become a hot topic in the last decade; protests, laws, and innumerable debates resulting from the controversy. A GMO food “Includes altering the DNA structure of the seed to make it stronger. Genes are extracted from one species and artificially forced into another plant”(Green and Growing). Controversy on this topic comes from the much publicized GMO downsides; increased disorders, increased immune system failures, increased chronic illnesses, increased pesticide usage, and contamination. Little known to most is the enormous benefits of using GMOs in crops, little known is the fact that the whole world could be fed using GMOs, little known is the fact that GMO can act as vaccines, and also little known is the fact that allergies can be solved with GMOs. Infertile ground can now support GMO crops, crops that could save Third world countries. Plants can be made invulnerable to insecticide, creating an opportunity to get more out of each harvest.
Now, as side effects from these foods emerge, parents are attempting to find what is right, what is best for their children. If GMOs are used to the full potential, starving souls in Africa can be saved, but will the Earth’s population grow at an uncontrollable rate until all resources are expended? Much research shows that the perceived ill effects from GMOs are actually related to different problems than GMOs. There is much debate to be had but weighing pros and cons, which way would you go? Which way should the world go?

41 Comments

Rachel

2/12/2019 08:45:36 pm

Many products boast about being “GMO Free”. I just drank a cup of tea actually and noticed that the tea bag had a “Non-GMO Project Verified” advertisement on the front. So why the huge debate over GMOs? They’re actually helping people by producing mass quantities of food aren’t they? The amount of food available because of GMOs has been able to begin feeding the third world countries in need. I think that people are actually scared of the technology being used to genetically modify plants. I believe that many see it as a step towards human genetic modification, a topic that many dislike to discuss because it is deemed unethical. Their fear is valid though, if we can modify plant DNA, what is there to stop us from soon modifying human DNA? I think that GMO's can be extremely helpful but I also believe that they need to be strictly regulated to ensure that we do not cross any lines and start using the modifications on animals or humans.

Sariah

2/17/2019 01:38:05 pm

It is interesting you bring up how it needs to be regulated. We see what can happen if it isn’t. For instance the hemp or marijuana plant that is currently being enhanced so people can get a greater high. This is the downfall I think to being able to alter the DNA. We start abusing it instead of continuing or heading in a positive direction.

Rachel

2/17/2019 02:49:04 pm

I know this is a bit of a side track from GMO's, but marijuana is still a relevant issue and a very good example of the misuse of GMO's. As we discussed during our trip to DC, there are no regulations and really no way to test the THC levels in marijuana plants. So, producers can modify the plant as much as they want and there is no person or law to tell them not to. This is extremely dangerous for the public especially since marijuana is becoming legal in many states. We need to figure out how to test these levels and also should regulate marijuana sale and use much more closely.

Jesse B.

2/17/2019 05:50:38 pm

I can see where modifying human DNA is not a good idea. Not only is it unethical, it probably is not completely safe. I have not seen very much research on human genetic modification, not to say that there isn't any, but there might be unknown problems that would arise. I agree that many third-world countries are receiving more aid because of GMO foods, but I feel that they can do better. An example of this would be to bring the GMO's up to standard so they could in the various environments in third-world nations. Do you see human genetic modification becoming a problem in the future?

Kenna

2/17/2019 08:04:44 pm

GMOs are being used to mass produce food so they do have pros.

Sariah

2/16/2019 01:19:00 pm

GMO plants are a growing experiment. There are problems with it just like any other evolving invention. The hardest part with creating the genetically modified plants is that the world they are being planted in is always changing. The soil is genuinely unique in every inch. Because of the recent publicity and popularity the GMO plants are getting people are recognizing an increase in infections and disorders, these are making people not want to use GMO plants at all. But the crazy thing is GMO plants are causing an outweighing outcome in pros and cons. The pros are rapidly increasing as time goes by. We now can produce mass amounts of food very efficiently and quickly in lands that were waste-less before. Which could fix one of the worlds greatest problems. Starvation. There are enormous amounts of hungry people in our country alone that we could help by using GMO products. Those people are dying from starvation and we can help. Now the real question is will we? We’ve discovered something extravagant. We just need to apply it in a life changing way. By gradually perfecting it.

Rachel

2/17/2019 02:53:44 pm

I agree that GMO foods could be the answer to the global issue of starvation. Mass producing foods could save the population of the world that is suffering. But, I just think that we need to be cautious and regulate the production of foods closely because it could very easily turn into more of a problem than a solution. But, I hope that the future of GMO's will be positive and will help many people in need.

Jesse B.

2/17/2019 05:32:39 pm

The possibility for GMO foods to solve the pressing issue of starvation should be enough for people to invest greater amounts of research and money into this field. Like you said though, will we do that? My guess is that folks will first invest in themselves before they invest in others. In order for the starving populations to be relieved for their suffering, the GMO crops need to grown nearby since those people do not have the resources to import food from great distances away. Sadly, I think this is many years away before these changes become widespread. Should more research and experimentation be conducted on edible plants to make them even easier and better to grow or should we take what we have now and use that overseas for struggling populations?

Kelsey

2/17/2019 05:33:52 pm

GMO's may help with starvation for a few decades, but eventually starvation with be back and more widespread if we continue down the path we are. Our environment can not support these massive changes. Between the lack of biodiversity, superweeds, too few seed banks, and pollinator habitat being destroyed, GMO's will do more harm than good long term.

Katarina

2/17/2019 06:34:43 pm

Exactly by modifying these plants we can now use unusable land that the parent plants couldn’t survive in. Or they can plant a plant that can’t be supported in a certain environment and by crossing it with another plant giving it what it needs to survive it can now be grown where it needs to be not only where it was found.

Jesse B.

2/16/2019 02:27:46 pm

Genetically modifying organisms is nothing new. Ancient humans were able to domesticate dogs around 20,000 years ago and goats and sheep roughly 11,000 years ago with selective breeding techniques. Skip ahead a few years and a tobacco plant was produced in 1982 that became the first genetically altered crop produced in a lab. Fast forward to today, virtually everything we eat has been modified in some shape or form to better the needs of the consumers, us. Let’s use corn (maize) as an example. Before it was domesticated, the maize plant would only grow a single one inch long cob. Now, the ears of corn normally are seven inches long with two to three growing on a single stem. Similar to dogs, goats, and sheep mentioned earlier, the corn of today came to be with genetic selection along with relatively new lab adjustment of the genetic makeup. So, why all of a sudden are people becoming afraid of these GMO’s? Folks tend to associate the rising rates of child disorders, chronic ailments, weak immune systems with the rise of the genetically modified crops, but one would be hard pressed to find a unbiased study that correlates these health issues with the consumption of foods containing GM crops. The only true negative is that the mega-farms are putting the local producers out of business. These corporations do this by flooding the market with “cheap” produce that could be grown by the locals and since most people do not enjoy paying more for their foods, the average person will go with the cheaper option. Let’s say that enough potatoes can be produced locally for a community. Potatoes imported from another state or country should not be sold in that community, that product would go somewhere else that did not have enough of that crop being produced. In addition, since many plants are genetically modified to grow more, any excess food should be sent to nations in need. The genetically modified plants and animals are not the problem; the problem is how they are distributed.

Sariah

2/17/2019 01:50:11 pm

I think in society when we start to really research, what presume to be “issues”, we find that the actual product or plant etc is not the problem but the people who are handling it are. This is because humans tend to abuse things if given the opportunity of able. This leads to pointing fingers and playing the blame game. I instantly thought of how people like to say guns are killing people or causing problems when in fact it is the people handling them.

Kelsey

2/17/2019 05:29:39 pm

GMO's actually are a problem because of the harmful effects they have environmentally. However, I agree that they are not causing health effects, and this food is not being distributed strategically enough.

Conrad

2/17/2019 06:37:18 pm

I do believe that using GMO's are perfectly fine health wise but I do think that if they are overused, the world's population will rapidly expand out of what the world can produce.

Brooke

2/17/2019 06:51:04 pm

Yes, the food itself is not the problem. If we could figure out a way to harvest safely, GMO would not be an issue. It has helped us in the past get more from what we produce, we just need to be aware of how we go about it.

Kelsey

2/17/2019 05:25:10 pm

GMO's seem great on the surface, but when looked at closer, they could cause many problems. I do not think they cause any health problems (there is no scientific proof yet), but I do know they cause environmental problems. GMO crops are mono-cultures, meaning they do not support biodiversity. When diversity is lost in ecosystems, natural processes fail to continue because important materials are missing. Furthermore, the farther we get away from the original plants, the harder it is to recreate those original plants. There is such thing as seed banks (caches of original seeds), but there just isn't enough. GMO's are also starting to cross pollinate with other plants causing natural plants to adapt these genetic changes which completely disrupts nature's course. For example, GMO's are herbicide tolerant - meaning they are resilient to chemicals. These herbicide tolerant plants are passing on these traits to weeds and other plants by cross pollination which causes weeds to become herbicide tolerant thus making "superweeds." GMO's are great for a couple of decades, but pretty soon their negative effects will catch up and cause some serious damage. They are not sustainable, and it is another addition to the long list of detrimental things humans are doing to the environment.

Katarina

2/17/2019 06:29:29 pm

Like GMO’s pesticides and other chemicals are becoming obsolete based on the same opinions brought from people trying to get rid of GMO’s. So if the chemicals are no longer used because of those reasons then what is the argument that GMO’s are bad if they can’t alter how other plants react to pesticides?

Brooke

2/17/2019 06:49:23 pm

Sadly, nearly every chemical we use to make our food safe for us is bad for the environment. We should look into creating a healthy pesticide, if possible, in order to solve both the GMO and the bad press.

Challis

2/17/2019 08:06:19 pm

Hmm, I have not thought of it that way but it does make sense. What do you think about it being able to help starvation though?

Katarina

2/17/2019 06:25:22 pm

As most of you know I went on a trip to California with our FFA Chpater and others from Idaho. On the way there we got to tour a greenhouse. The main manager of Olson’s greenhouse in Utah told us that they had a hybrid flower from GMO’s that allowed them to take the base parent and make the offspring produce a different color. Then some people said that this certain flower was killing the bee population. There was absolutely no scientific backing to this opinion but because our public world has such a bad outlook on GMO’s the flower was immediately taken off the market and will never been seen again. Being from an ag family and so invested in an agricultural club you hear the real facts of this topic. There are so many benefits to GMO’s and little downsides that are backed by science. With the public today I doubt they will be completely accepted by society but if more people thought like farmers they wouldn’t understand.

Conrad

2/17/2019 06:40:18 pm

I agree that they have enormous benefits and people must look at facts before instantly hating such things. Whole species can be saved with GMO's. The only thing to be careful of is that our world can only support so many and GMO's mustn't be overused to create a much larger starvation problem in the long run.

Katherine

2/17/2019 07:27:06 pm

I agree that there are more benefits than what people think. It’s almost similar to not vaccinating kids in a way, once there is a bad outlook on it, people won’t change their minds or understand the other side.

Kenna

2/17/2019 08:02:14 pm

I agree that the public has a view on GMOs that isn't good even if that is not the case.

Mckinlee

2/17/2019 08:04:00 pm

It is such a shame that people’s ignorance causes issues for the rest of the world. As you said, the supposed downsides are not backed by science and should not be taken as fact because of it.

Sadie

2/17/2019 08:06:26 pm

I took intro to ag freshman year with Mrs. Cooper and she made it clear that she strongly supports it.

Brooke

2/17/2019 06:46:57 pm

To be honest, I never thought much about the topic of GMO. Food is food, until it's labeled with scary man-made acronyms. As humans, we strive to produce quantity over quality when it comes to certain things. Food is half-and-half in that logic. To be able to mold our products to better fit our demands, and then go beyond, is pretty amazing. GMO overall is clever, effective, and solves a bunch of problems we would have otherwise. So why does society frown upon it? For one, the acronym. Buyers like it when produce is as fresh and natural as it can get, and commercial industries sure know how to exploit that image and plaster their "Fresh!" label on anything they sell. GMO is a target to those companies, because it is the opposite of their "fresh!" image, thusly the "GMO free!" proudly displayed on every item. Seeing 'Genetically Modified' on food kind of scares people when they want to eat it, because, yuck, it must mean secret dangerous chemicals and people messing with the nature of things they shouldn't.
Also, if GMO could solve these third world hunger issues, why hasn't it happened already? As Kelsey said, GMO has been around for decades. Is America blind to see that the immense amount of food (that we are complaining about) could actually be of use to others? Especially if we don't want it? I'm sure they wouldn't complain.
All in all, GMO shouldn't be deserving of all the hate, but I can understand how people would so easily cast their mindset towards 'no.'

Katherine

2/17/2019 07:31:01 pm

I agree with the fact that the less on the labels, the more likely people are to buy it. When there’s acronyms of something we really taught anything about and are just told that it’s bad, you just assume and follow suit with what others are doing.

Challis

2/17/2019 08:04:23 pm

I feel as though people are just afraid of change. We need to realize that just because something is not natural does not always mean that it is bad.

Jazz

2/17/2019 08:17:57 pm

I agree that non GMO foods are not immediately better than those containing GMOs. GMOs offer nutrients that are necessary to live, and health buffs often overlook that due to the scary acronym.

Katherine

2/17/2019 07:20:02 pm

GMO foods have been an increasing outlook, especially in the recent years. GMOs are often looked at as harmful because of the increasing number of food related illnesses and food allergies that have increased in the past few years. However, as Conrad mentioned in his post, GMO foods can potentially be used to feed third world countries. They could feed the entire plant, aiding in ending world hunger, so why are we holding back on using them to their fullest extent? More and more often they are being used to help cure food allergies, diseases, and other illnesses caused by foods. All in all, GMO foods will benefit the world if they get used to their fullest potential. In my eyes, I definitely feel that GMO foods should be used more often because they are and will benefit the world in tremendous ways. Ending world hunger has always been an issue, but if GMO foods are used more and more often, third world countries will be able to get the nutrition they need to survive and become healthier than they were in the past. Is using GMO foods really going to end these issues though? And will they continue to maintain them, or will they eventually wear off in the future and not have the same effects that they have now?

Mckinlee

2/17/2019 08:01:26 pm

Honestly even if GMOs are just a relatively temporary solution it allows us more time to find a permanent solution to the aforementioned issues. Even if they just maintain the issues for now I believe we should still utilize them for the time being!

Sadie

2/17/2019 08:10:01 pm

In the future, I'm sure we will discover something new to help with world hunger. Most of the issue is honestly food distribution and not amount.

Kenna

2/17/2019 07:59:26 pm

GMOs are good because they can help feed third world countries. They are helpful. Many people may think they are bad but that is not necessarily the case. Personally though I don't know enough about the issue.

McKinlee

2/17/2019 08:00:04 pm

If GMOs can help people and countries that are starving then they need to be utilized. Maybe to soothe people’s worries we can regularly watch their usage and the effects of GMOs but is something that could help fix just a large problem as world hunger really a bad thing? And they aren’t just aiding in feeding the world, but curing afflictions caused by other foods as Kathy mentioned.

Sadie

2/17/2019 08:02:42 pm

Some people say that GMOs are "playing God" but if he gave us the ability to change the DNA in food, then we should take advantage of it. We need to get as many resources as we can for this growing population. Denying the benefits to anyone would just be a sentence for death.

Jazz

2/17/2019 08:21:02 pm

That's an argument that I've heard every time the topic of GMOs comes up. With the world population growing at such a high rate, every resource counts, and ignoring GMOs as an option is just stupid.

Challis

2/17/2019 08:02:48 pm

The way I see it is there are pros and cons to both and possibly situations in whitch one is better than the other. If they can be used to help starvation use them. If you do not want to feed your child GMOs simply just purchase non GMO items. They should defintely be studied researched heavily in order to cut down on the "cons" of created something genetically modified.

Saylor

2/17/2019 08:40:45 pm

I agree, heavy research should be done if GMOs are causing any damage in someone's lives. I personally have never had any issues with this topic, but it sounds to be damaging to some people. The pros and cons seem to be reasonably possible situations so its wherever the river takes one I presume.

Jazz

2/17/2019 08:11:18 pm

Go, go, GMOs, even if the cancer grows! Personally, I believe that GMOs are more beneficial than harmful. Without GMOs food would considerably shirtier. Food would expire faster, there would be a severe lack of nutrients compared to current foods, and there wouldn't even be enough food to supply America. If everyone would stop complaining about the dangers of GMOs, then maybe we could start actually something about world hunger. Even though the issue is distribution, but that's none of my business.

Saylor

2/17/2019 08:37:35 pm

I believe they can be very beneficial to America aswell. I dont believe America would have enough crops for food to supply Americans without GMOs. Considering that GMOs do make some foods tastier and/or bigger, they are fine to stay with me.

Saylor

2/17/2019 08:35:31 pm

GMOs haven't effected me my entire life so I'm not too worried on how they affect other people. GMOs can be very beneficial to crops and foods while having a cost of impacting some of the population negatively, to me that sounds like anything ever created. Everything is going to have a good and bad side effect to part of the population so I believe it is pointless to have a controversy over something that is both beneficial and damaging. Since our population grows so quickly if there are people being impacted negatively GMOs help supply America without them there wouldn't be enough to food to feed everyone. Either way GMOs are good to stay or leave. I wouldn't be bothered either way.

GMO's... Healthy or Hurting?

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