Genetically Modified Food: Monsters or Miracle?

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Recommended: The perils of GMOS

As our society shifted from hunter gathers to farmers to the present day, humans have always been working towards the common goal of steady food supply. The idea of a seed naturally taking root and growing into a beautiful plant that supplies bountiful amounts of food is an ideal thought but working in my family’s garden for a large majority of my life has shown me, that is not what happens. The success of a plant depends on many factors, many of which are out of our control such as rain, sunshine, temperature, and insects. Yet another aspect is the fact that a homegrown ear of corn looks very rarely like the golden ears we find at the super market; often they are small and haggled, but if you can see past that, very delicious. As society has grown, it seems systems in place attempt to become more efficient and selling haggled pieces of corn is not efficient. It is no wonder why scientists all over the world are working for major corporations like Monsano to make produce and livestock more reliable and efficient. These byproducts are known as GMOs or Genetically Modified Organisms. Although I will openly admit, I am against the idea of GMOs and the unidentified side effects that they may pose, I do believe GMOs have improved the quality of food. Without GMOs we would all be eating haggled pieces of corn! Genetically modified food products offer a higher quality food source, a more reliable food source and have the potential of ending malnutrition and disease around the world.
As we browse the supermarket today looking at quality produce, a large percentage of the produce if not all has in some way been genetically modified. In fact it has been over twenty years since the first genetically modified food entered the supermarket. In ...

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... that has the least bad and hope you are doing the right thing. Life without GMOs would make everyday foods like tomatoes something of a rare gem, it would make everyday staple food costs through the roof, the amount of farmland needed would be exponential, and the ever expanding population could potentially be driven into starvation. Good or bad, genetically modified food is here to stay and something we cannot exist without.

Works Cited

"History of GMOS." History of GMOS. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Mar. 2014.
Charles, Dan. "In The New Globalized Diet, Wheat, Soy And Palm Oil Rule." NPR. NPR, 4 Mar. 2014. Web. 25 Mar. 2014.
"Golden Rice Project." Vitamin A Deficiency. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2014.
"Banana Vaccines." MNN. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2014. .

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