Silent Scribbles

This post will focus on GMO’s.

GMO’s are Genetically Modified Organisms. They have had genes added for:

• Growth
• Nutritional Contect
• Sustainability
• Pest Resistance
• Ease of Farming

The EU doesn’t have a blanket ban on GMOs, but they are as highly regulated at medical drugs, despite not having any evidence that they carry more risk than consumption of conventional foods and crops. They do approve GMOs on a case-by-case basis. The legal framework in Europe aims to protect human and animal health and the environment.

GMO’s essentially take crops with the genetics they like and cross them with plants with other genetics they like. Similar to when people cross-breed dogs to create dogs with genetics they want, such as any kind of doodle. Now, this is a very simplistic way of explaining what is done.

According to the USDA, GMO seeds are used to plant over 90% of corn, cotton, and soy products.

Some of the pros of GMOs:

• Reduced pesticide usage (reduced by 8.3%)
• Improved survival and greater yield
• Increased nutritional value
• Enhanced flavor

Cons of GMOs:

• Allergies (although studies suggest GMO plants carry no greater risk of allergies than their non-GMO counterparts)
• Cancer- ACS (American Cancer Society) has stated there is no direct link to GMOs and cancer. The main concern for cancer is a secondary effect.
• Herbicide use- this is the secondary effect of GMOs. While plants are created with natural pesticide properties, farmers will use herbicides in the surrounding areas to kill weeds. Herbicides, such as Roundup, have been proven to have an increased risk of cancer for those utilizing them.

In my opinion (and I am no scientist and have not studied GMOs), I feel that GMOs themselves don’t pose a risk for human consumption. It’s the usage of herbicides and pesticides that pose the greatest risk to us.