Banning Genetically Modified Foods
Published on Feb 10, 2016
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PRESENTATION OUTLINE
Have you ever eaten foods made from the companies Hershey's, Coca Cola, Pepsi, Kelloggs, Campbell's, or Nestle?
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These are just a few of the many companies that use GMOs in their products and DO NOT want us to know about it.
So what exactly are GMOs?
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GMO stands for "Genetically Modified Organism." GMOs are made by transferring a gene from one organism to another, adding the desired trait.
For example, if strawberries could not withstand frost naturally, scientists could inject specific genes that help cold-water fish survive into them.
Among other things, GM foods were promised to increase productivity and make crops more manageable than organic food.
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However, these promises have not yet been achieved by the foods, and new challenges are on the rise.
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The production and distribution of GM foods should be banned worldwide because they have not decreased world hunger, they infringe on farmers’ rights, and they are not properly tested to be safe for consumption.
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Firstly, GMOs have not lessened the impact of world hunger.
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Despite companies' aims to produce nutritious, hunger-relieving GM food...
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...1 million children under five still die from malnutrition every year since their introduction in 1994 (Action Against Hunger, ACF International).
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This shows that introducing GMOs has not sufficiently benefited the hungry as promised.
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Secondly, distributing GMOs infringes on farmers' rights.
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Along with the unfulfilled expectations for the hungry, GMOs have not delivered in favor of farmers' freedoms.
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As we continue to modify foods, weeds become resistant and crops migrate, often leading to tainting the once-organic land ("Genetic Chile," 2010).
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This has created the issue of organic farmers getting sued for using companies' patented seeds without paying royalties.
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This demonstrates farmers' rights being compromised as stealing seeds can happen inadvertently.
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Finally, GMOs have not been tested enough to be considered safe to eat.
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Not only do GMOs pose threats to justice for farmers worldwide, they also pose threats to our health.
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Others may argue that added vitamins in GMOs outweigh health risks associated with them.
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In reality, there have been cases of newly developed allergies to these supposedly enhanced foods.
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Also, some doctors suspect GM foods could transfer antibiotic-resistant genes to humans from consumption, leaving us unable to react to medicine (Harris, Nancy, ed. "Genetically Engineered Foods").
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Despite these possible health risks, the FDA claims they are "generally regarded as safe." In other words, no official testing has been done to prove this.
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These risks show that without due safety research, consuming GMOs could have lasting adverse effects.
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In summary, GM foods should stop being made and distributed because they have not reduced world hunger, they compromise farmers' rights, and they lack standard safety testing.
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Currently, GMO labeling is required in 64 countries, yet the US has not made this mandatory (Caldwell, Maggie. "Five Surprising Genetically Modified Foods").
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The State of Connecticut supports the Right to Know Policy but needs other states to agree before it goes into effect.
For now, the public might not have much of a say in what companies call "expensive and pointless" labeling...
...But the real question is, what will you do next time you have the choice between organic and GMO?
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