In this capitalist society we call America, health comes second to profit. One example of this queer priority is the food industry’s support for GMOs which have been exploited in order to produce fast growing, pest-resistant, cheap crops, and as a consequence, people are getting sick. But the damage does not stop at the health of the consumers; the environment and workers’ rights pay the price for using GMOs too. When will people see that GMOs are not the solution? They are adding to the decline of quality living.
Some Americans may recognize the term “GMO” but not know that it stands for “genetically modified organism” or that it and can be a plant or animal. By merging DNA from different species, these genetically engineered creations become more productive. As of now, GMOs offer only reduced prices to the consumers—but at what cost? The main aim of GMOs, as far as crops, is to be tolerant to herbicides or produce an insecticide in itself. Therefore they become more successful with have a greater harvest and yield (nongmoproject.org). Because of the pest-resistant crops, “super bugs” are now beginning to emerge which then means a new crop with a new tolerance must be made which leads to new super bugs. This cyclical chain of events leads to an ever-increasing potency of chemicals that are being put on our crops and released into the environment. Consequences are inevitable. But it doesn’t end with crops—chickens are now designed to grow unnaturally large at an unnaturally fast rate. The worst part is products with GMOs are not labeled. What does this mean for the people who want to avoid GMOs? We could all start eating organic chickens and try to buy all organic produce but according to nongmoproject.org, “In the U.S., GMOs are in as much as 80% of conventional processed food” (nongmoproject.org). What kind of society leaves a mere 20% of food void of GMOs?
The best solution as of now is to support organic foods. If the organic food industry gets enough support they can start to dominate the stores instead of GMOs. The only thing that we need to be careful about is making sure that every step of the food industry is watched. The last thing that needs to happen is organic food falling to capitalism by cutting corners and trying to make money the priority. If we don’t personally do something about GMOs, we have only ourselves to blame for poor food quality and declining health. If you think there is nothing wrong with GMOs, there’s nothing wrong with that—they do help with productivity and they allow food to be sold at a cheaper price. But what happens when we mess with nature? Changing the genetic code of something should come at a cost. And where would the line be drawn if we continued to be ok with and accept these genetic modifications to our food?
Although GMOs have the beneficial factors of productivity and tolerability, they should not be the only driving factors. The public’s health and safety along with the wellbeing of the environment should be priority with no discrepancy. So now it comes the time that you put down this paper and go support what you believe in. If you want to continue eating genetically modified food, do what you do best; otherwise, try walking down the organic section next time you’re at the store. It’s up to you now.
Some Americans may recognize the term “GMO” but not know that it stands for “genetically modified organism” or that it and can be a plant or animal. By merging DNA from different species, these genetically engineered creations become more productive. As of now, GMOs offer only reduced prices to the consumers—but at what cost? The main aim of GMOs, as far as crops, is to be tolerant to herbicides or produce an insecticide in itself. Therefore they become more successful with have a greater harvest and yield (nongmoproject.org). Because of the pest-resistant crops, “super bugs” are now beginning to emerge which then means a new crop with a new tolerance must be made which leads to new super bugs. This cyclical chain of events leads to an ever-increasing potency of chemicals that are being put on our crops and released into the environment. Consequences are inevitable. But it doesn’t end with crops—chickens are now designed to grow unnaturally large at an unnaturally fast rate. The worst part is products with GMOs are not labeled. What does this mean for the people who want to avoid GMOs? We could all start eating organic chickens and try to buy all organic produce but according to nongmoproject.org, “In the U.S., GMOs are in as much as 80% of conventional processed food” (nongmoproject.org). What kind of society leaves a mere 20% of food void of GMOs?
The best solution as of now is to support organic foods. If the organic food industry gets enough support they can start to dominate the stores instead of GMOs. The only thing that we need to be careful about is making sure that every step of the food industry is watched. The last thing that needs to happen is organic food falling to capitalism by cutting corners and trying to make money the priority. If we don’t personally do something about GMOs, we have only ourselves to blame for poor food quality and declining health. If you think there is nothing wrong with GMOs, there’s nothing wrong with that—they do help with productivity and they allow food to be sold at a cheaper price. But what happens when we mess with nature? Changing the genetic code of something should come at a cost. And where would the line be drawn if we continued to be ok with and accept these genetic modifications to our food?
Although GMOs have the beneficial factors of productivity and tolerability, they should not be the only driving factors. The public’s health and safety along with the wellbeing of the environment should be priority with no discrepancy. So now it comes the time that you put down this paper and go support what you believe in. If you want to continue eating genetically modified food, do what you do best; otherwise, try walking down the organic section next time you’re at the store. It’s up to you now.
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