by My title is something that I’d heard several times in my life as I grew up. When people hear the term GMO, it’s hard not to instinctively react with uncertainty or fear. In a world like ours where foods are constantly bragged about being grown “naturally” and being “organic” it makes sense people would be suspicious of food that has had its original form changed down to its genetic factors. But there are many benefits to letting genetically modified organisms take part in our food.
This essay will lay out why I think GMOs do belong in our future, but I should also point out they already exist in much greater proportions than one might realize. Over 90% of the US’s corn is grown using GMO seeds, and now there are over 17000 approved GMO crops being planted. They have benefits such as resistance to fungi, bugs, pesticides, droughts, etc. They also have genes changed for taste and nutrition value to enhance them compared to their natural state. Knowing only this, most people would probably think that GMOs are amazing and should be implemented when possible. But there are other things to consider. For the past few decades lab testing and human consumption has shown no large risk to health from GMOs. However, a counterpoint could be that there haven’t been enough years to know for sure about any potential longterm drawbacks or side effects that could turn up after a while. Golden rice is a modified version of rice that has a vitamin normal rice lacked, and so far it doesn’t seem to have any potential dark effects.
Another proponent for GMOs is that as foods become easier to sustain, grow, and higher in nutrition, they can become cheaper and more accessible. World hunger could be fought more effectively with the general lower cost of crops, and if the food is more nutritious less is needed leading to benefits on both ends. The counterpoint to this is also theoretical, but still potentially valid. Changing too many genetic markers could lead to possible toxic mutations that could be harmful or even just have no overall advantage to being unmodified. Also, the foods may end up becoming triggers for allergic reactions in people that might not have had any before the modifications. Along with what was said earlier, the resistance to pesticides and other potential crop threats lead to more efficient farming. Lower carbon emissions and less chemicals would be better for the environment after all the damage it already takes. But there have been side effects such as “superweeds” that developed pesticide resistance from the resistance modified crops. This lead to the opposite effect where more hazardous chemicals had to be employed.
Overall I would say that GMO’s, when properly tried and tested, offer very valid benefits that we can employ to help feed ourselves in more efficient and environmentally-sustainable ways. Of course, there is always the possibility that one day a crop becomes too modified or ends up having long terms effects, but at this point I think many of us are already too deep in to really matter.