Are you Pro GMO?

Have you heard about the "horrors" of GMO's?

If not you're one of the few. Luckily, I'm here to tell you the truth and the reasons behind why I am pro GMO! People who avoid genetically modified (GM) or genetically engineered (GE) products generally do so because they've heard bad things about them. When asked why they're against GMO's people usually say "they're bad for you" or "they're not safe" or "it's not natural." They cannot give you a solid, much less factual, argument. What would you say if I told you that crops have been genetically modified for over 20 years? Cattle have been fed genetically modified corn since it was first introduced and we have had no problems with it⁴. Did you know that food has been genetically modified to help us? Let's start with some research facts. 

A $70 million research project which lasted 15 years was done by the European Union (EU). This project showed that genetic modification/engineering poses no new risks to human health nor our environment¹. A company called Simplot recently created a new potato called the Innate^® Potato. This potato was approved by the USDA and was created specifically for frying². We all know McDonald's fries aren't the healthiest, but did you know that when potatoes are fried they produce amino acids which react at high heats to produce acrylamide? Acrylamide is a carcinogen. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) puts acrylamide in the Group 2A category: probable carcinogen². The Innate^® potato was made by using genes of several different potatoes into one. And guess what? It reduces the production of acrylamide. However, McDonalds announced that they will not use it because their consumers don't want GMOs in their food. So, don't stop reading, but at the end let me know in the comments whether you would choose carcinogens or GMOs in your food? Simplot also said that this modified potato is more sustainable, as are many Genetically Engineered (GE) products³. 

Golden Rice is a GMO with increased amounts of beta-carotene. Many of you are probably thinking “I don’t want this chemical in my food, or rice that is a different color.” However this beta-carotene is just a fancy word for pro-vitamin A. It is a precursor, a product which our bodies can convert into Vitamin A. This rice was created to help people in third world countries who can grow abundant amounts of rice but have Vitamin A deficiencies. Vitamin A deficiencies cause a number of problems:

·        night blindness (trouble seeing black, white, and gray scales)

·        reproductive failure

·        abnormal skeletal development

·        increased risk of respiratory infections

·        causes a squamous shape in basal cells (a squished shape rather than a cuboidal, or columnar cell)

When the producers of Golden Rice tried to export it, guess what happened? You guessed it! The European Union (which governs some countries in Africa) didn’t want it at first, because they weren’t sure of the safety, quality, or outcomes from eating the GMO. Now, however the Pope has given his personal blessing, and we hope that countries such as the Philippines will give Golden Rice a shot⁷.

**update: The FDA has approved the first GE animal intended for food! Check it out here!!**

Here’s one thing I don’t get:

In America, most people want to buy produce without traces of pesticides. GMO’s were first used to create crops which would naturally repel insects. And then we got upset about that. We seem to never be happy. We get mad because our crops are eaten by insects, then we fix that problem. Then we complain that pesticides are harmful to humans, and so we find a way where we don’t have to use them. And then we fight against that. By not using GM foods like the Innate^® potato, and insect resistance we are going to run ourselves and our planet into the ground. When plants are insect resistant, they are more sustainable. Today we are so concerned with how we are going to feed the world in the next 50+ years, but to continue rejecting the new technology that scientists and farmers are creating and using, is to ruin our earth.

There is a website that is promoting the “Non-GMO Project.” They say that this science is “relatively new.” But as I stated before, the EU’s research project went on for fifteen years. They also say that the foods created are “unstable combinations of plant, animal, bacteria, and viral genes.”⁵ GMO’s are made from recombinant DNA⁶. They do not put plant genes in animals or vice versa. They use genes typically from the same type of plant (like with the Innate^® potato: genes from multiple species of potato). They claim that GMO’s are contaminated, though they do not say how or with what. They also state that there has been no increased crop yields from using GMO’s even though research has proved GMO sustainability. While there may or may not have been increased crop yields in some GE products, not all of them were created to have increased yields, but rather increased vitamins or other helpful genetics you have seen throughout this post. The organization is very vague with all of their “facts” saying that the creators of GMO’s are the ones who approved them all because of profit. It does not say who these creators are nor how much they benefit from these crops.

Recently I heard a good quote from Josh Clark from the Stuff You Should Know podcasts at HowStuffWorks.com and though I cannot remember which podcast it was from, he was referring to an organization that was not giving full on facts. He said,

 “They seem to benefit from people being scared.”

I believe that a lot of organizations thrive on chaos these days including PETA, the Non-GMO Project and many others. They don’t- or can’t- tell you the whole truth. They isolate problems that seem scary out of context. So I hope that after this post you won’t be afraid of GMO’s. I personally walk around the grocery store looking for items with GMO’s. If you are still hesitant it is okay! I realize this is a new thing to some people, even though it has been around for two decades. Please feel free to email or comment with questions and don’t forget to tell me whether or not you’re #proGMO.

1.      “Current Thoughts on Safety of Genetically Modified Foods.” Smith, Dr. Gary C. Where Food Comes From. January 2011. Accessed Oct. 26, 2015.

2.     “USDA Approves Genetically Modified Super Potato.” Feeney, Nolan. The Guardian. November 9, 2014. Accessed Oct. 26 2015.

3.     “Witness First-Hand the GMO Debate.” Food Processing. Dec. 2014. Accessed Oct. 26, 2015.

4.     “USDA: GM Seeds Account for 90% of Corn, Cotton, and Soybeans Planted.” United States Department of Agriculture. July 21, 2015. Accessed Nov. 12, 2015.

5.     "GMO Facts." The NonGMO Project RSS. N.p., 2015. Web. 16 Nov. 2015. <http://www.nongmoproject.org/learn-more/>.

6.     Trifold Printout from www.nongmoproject.org

7.     "Vitamin A Deficiency." Golden Rice Project. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Nov. 2015. <http://www.goldenrice.org/Content3-Why/why1_vad.php>.