A growing debate has been raging across the U.S. and across the
world over the question of whether Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) are
both safe and more productive for our society.
On one side of the argument are people saying the GMO seeds for growing
crops, like corn, protect them from pests and allow farmers to spray weed
killer that destroys weeds but not the crops.
They also say this is the answer to solving world hunger issues. However, those on the other side claim these
crops are harmful to human health and put all of us at risk because every
farmer's crop has the same exact plant which means a disease that crops up
could destroy the entire country's harvest of corn cause massive food problems.
As it stands now, Japan, Australia and the entire European Union
are just some of the countries which have banned GMOs. The United States, however, still allows
these crops to be grown and used in food products here. The studies performed on these crops to
determine whether they pose a threat to human health have so far come back
negative. It should be noted though,
that all of the studies saying there are no negative side effects were
conducted by the same companies which manufacture these seeds. An accurate food database that tracks what each
food produced using these GMOs is both necessary and should be
published on the container so that customers can be wary.
While many people for GMOs claim it is a good option for farmers
the results on the ground are showing quite a few problems with this
claim. First it is proving far from
affordable, especially for small to medium sized farms. The seeds for these GMOs are costly and due
to current laws farmers aren't allowed to keeps seeds from the first crop and
use them for future planting. They have
to buy new seeds each year. The farmers
then have to buy pesticides and weed killer products the crops are immune to
which are also produced by the GMO companies.
After several years of implementation, the farmers who have taken
up this model are discovering both insects and weeds resistant to the chemicals
being sprayed and which can keep eating the crops. Therefore, their crops are still suffering
damage despite spending large amounts of money on specialized seeds and
chemicals. The purpose of these crops is
to make them capable of surviving droughts and other extreme weather
conditions, but so far they haven't been shown to be capable of this. Furthermore, after the introduction of GMOs
in 1996, the jump in chronic illnesses leapt from 7% to 13% in 9 years along
with suddenly rising number of food allergies, disorders, digestive problems
and others. While insufficient research
exists to prove the two are related, the correlation is disturbingly
similar. Educate yourself on GMOs and
make the right decision.
