GMO’s
Although my personal tendency is to go more natural and organic, I wanted to find out more about GMO’s the good and the bad. Is it a case of something we don’t want to live with but can’t live without?? This is what I came across on WebMD:
Up to 80% of processed foods in the U.S. are genetically modified. But what does that mean, and what’s all the fuss about GMOs these days?
“Like it or not, genetically modified foods are almost impossible to avoid,” says Sheldon Krimsky, PhD, an adjunct professor of public health and community medicine at Tufts Medical School in Boston.
Unless you eat only fresh, unprocessed foods that are marked as non-GMO or certified organic, you’re probably eating food that has been genetically modified. Is that a bad thing? It depends on who you ask.
What’s a GMO?
Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) may sound more like something out of Star Trek rather than anything you’d expect to find on your dinner plate. They are plants that have been changed by scientists. But they aren’t something new. They’ve been sold since 1994.
Want apples that won’t brown when you slice them? Potatoes that don’t get bruises from farm to table? The FDA has approved genetically modified versions of these foods that can do that.
People who are pro-GMO say they help farmers grow better crops faster. That means more, and cheaper, food for us.
But people on the other side of the GMO debate worry about their safety. They ask, “Do we know whether eating them over the long run can hurt people?”
How GMOs Are Made
Here’s how it works. Scientists take a plant. They change the plant by adding DNA from another plant, bacteria, or virus to it. DNA is what gives everything its special characteristics. So in this way, the original plant now has new qualities. The changes can make them more resistant to disease, bugs, or drought. It can give them other qualities too, like those that affect their taste or shelf life.
How is that different from the way we’ve improved crops for centuries? One big difference is that genetic modification speeds up the process.
Genetic modification has made plants with extra vitamins, minerals, and other benefits. Swiss researchers created a strain of “golden” rice with a lot of beta-carotene. This antioxidant is good for the eyes and skin. And those bruise-free potatoes are supposed to cut down on cancer-causing chemicals created when potatoes are fried.
What’s another benefit of using science to build better plants, according to people who are pro-GMO? You can combine plants that could never mate in the wild. An example of this is “Roundup Ready” corn. It can survive being sprayed by the weed killer. It is made of DNA from a few different types of plants.
Because of this, farmers can treat their entire field instead of just targeting weeds. Weeds die, but the corn is OK.
Are GMO Foods Safe?
Industry and health leaders cite hundreds of studies to support the safety of GMOs. That includes 20 years of studies in animals that have eaten modified food.
But experts like Krimsky say nearly two dozen studies show bad effects, like harm to thekidneys, liver, heart, and other organs. He says they should carry more weight as people judge the pros and cons.
People who are against GMOs do not like that Roundup Ready corn is sprayed with toxic chemicals. Even though the corn can survive, they worry about how it might affect people or animals that eat it.
An agency of the World Health Organization has classified the main chemical used in Roundup as a “probable carcinogen.” That means they think it probably increases the risk of cancer.
Monsanto, the maker of Roundup, disagrees and stands by the safety of its corn and GMO foods. The company is responsible for a lot of the world’s genetically modified crops.
How Can I Tell If My Food Has Been Genetically Modified?
China, Australia, and the European Union require GMO foods to be labelled. The U.S. does not. In SA If the product has a GM content of at least 5%, it must indicate “Contains GMOs”
South Africa is one of the leading exporters of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in Africa with a local production of 80% of genetically modified (GM) maize, 90% of GM soya bean and 100% of GM cottonseed. Government approval of GMOs is not a guarantee of safety. Identifying and tracing back GM content does not improve the safety of the product. Labelling is the cautious approach to the use of GMOs in food products for information purposes. Some adverse effects are known while others are still unknown.
If you choose organic foods, you may be able to avoid GMOs. You can also look for foods that are labelled as non-GMO. The makers of these foods volunteer to tag them, but that isn’t regulated by the government, so they may or may not be right.
More Pros and Cons
So are you good with GMOs? To make your decision, consider these other things.
The Pros
More food: Fans of GMOs say they will help us feed the extra 2 billion people that will fill the planet by 2050. Farmers can grow more food because these plants can live through a drought or cold snap. They aren’t as likely to die from disease.
“Not using these tools would push us back 40 to 50 years in food production,” Bradford says.
Less stress on the environment: Crops made so bugs won’t like them lower farmers’ need for toxic chemical pesticides, Goldstein says. Plants that resist weeds can live in fields that don’t have to be tilled as often. Tilling, or stirring up the dirt, gets rid of weeds, but it also causes dirt to be washed away into streams and rivers.
The Cons
More medical problems: Opponents say that besides possibly leading to cancer, GMOs can cause new allergies and hurt the effects of antibiotics. But no studies confirm this.
The rise of “superweeds”: Crops built to survive weed killer could breed with weeds. These “superweeds” would also survive. Farmers would have to use more and more and stronger pesticide to keep up.
Inventing new weed killers is hard and expensive. Plus, people worry about the safety of new chemicals that haven’t been tested as much as older ones.
My conclusion? We would definitely benefit to live without GMO’s health wise, but we need it to survive. If we look at the bigger picture and how global warming is escalating, food prices rising and the fact that we need to double production to be able to feed the population by 2050, GMO are definitely something we need to embrace within reason, without becoming too “artificial”. Organic will always be the healthier option and for those who can afford to live organically, I would say they are truly fortunate and it’s the way to go. For the less fortunate and starving countries, GMO’s are a must and it is unrealistic to think otherwise. We need mass-production to supply enough food, food that can last and food that can withstand the ever-changing drastic weather. I for one can just imagine how all farmers effected by South Africa’s drought are thankful for drought resistant crops, although water is still needed, but what would the effects be without crops that can withstand drought to an extend? Unfortunately food is a necessity not a luxury, and we need it to survive and for that, personally, I would embrace the good of Organic but also embrace the good GMO’s can do. Now can also decide for yourself.