Brian Fung Organic Foods Summary

This article addresses the benefits of purchasing organic foods and argues that consumers should spend the extra money on organically produced products. In the article, established journalist Brian Fung establishes a key point that organic foods are not actually healthier in terms of nutritional content. In fact, in many studies GMOs and organic foods have been found to contain very similar nutritional content. This idea of organic equating to better nutrition is actually completely erroneous; organic is not a statement of a product’s healthiness, but rather of the product’s method of production. Organic foods, Fung claims, are not healthier in terms of nutrition, but rather are healthier due to using fewer pesticides and herbicides during

Because Fung discusses the arguments of potential critics, this source will be very valuable for me when I mediate the debate. In addition, Fung uses great evidence and data to support his arguments, which will help me when I need to gather facts and supporting details to support my main points throughout the essay.

The journal publication interviews two experts with contrasting viewpoints on the issue of the utilization of genetically modified organisms in food. First, the journal interviews expert Mark Lynas, an environmental journalist in support of GMOs. Lynas was originally a major critic against the use of GMOs, but after heavily examining scientific evidence, he determined that GMOs are a safe and effective way of feeding the world. Furthermore, he claims that many of the arguments against GMOs are not sensible and even contradictory. For example, Lynas expresses that the argument that GMOs increase seed prices for small farmers should not be solved by banning genetically modified crops, but instead by making them more readily available and therefore cheaper. Next, the interviewer poses the question of the effectiveness of GMOs at fighting world hunger. To this noteworthy

Vrain claims the implementation of GMOs in the food industry “is based on an extremely oversimplified model.” This referenced oversimplified model comes from an old hypothesis that changing one gene in an organism will change a protein expressed by the organism. However, modern biology has established that changing a gene can alter many proteins and even synthesis new rogue proteins that can have potentially toxic effects when ingested over long periods of time. Vrain further asserts that genetic alteration defies nature’s vertical gene transfer—that is, sexual and asexual reproduction methods—and introduces an unpredictable horizontal gene transfer that does not always work out the way it theoretically should. Due to the unpredictability of the technology, Vrain advocates that GMOs should not be used at all because they present a reasonable threat to society. He references that many other scientists are in agreement that this biotechnology is unproven and dangerous; for example, “the American Academy of Environmental Medicine called for a moratorium on genetically modified foods” and suggested that there is not just a correlation between GMOs and negative health effects but in fact a causation. That is, GMOs cause detrimental health issues. While Vrain does seem to have a somewhat biased opinion on the issue, his claims are very well