The Non GMO Project published a statement that GMOs, or “genetically modified organisms,” are plants or animals that have been genetically engineered with DNA from bacteria, viruses or other plants and animals. These experimental combinations of genes from different species cannot occur in nature or in traditional crossbreeding (“GMO Facts”). Health factors involved with GMOs has been an arguable debate for many years because most nations believe that GMOs are not safe for human consumption. The Non GMO Project also states that more than 60 countries worldwide have restrictions or complete bans on the manufacture and sale of GMOs. However, in the United States the government permitted GMO production based off of studies from corporations that profit from the genetically modified organisms that they created (“GMO Facts”). It is time for Americans to change the GMO productions; it is time for Americans to say no. Citizens are able to make a change by demanding GMO labeling. The Non GMO Project reported that A 2012 Mellman Group poll found that 91% of American consumers wanted GMOs labeled. And, according to a recent CBS/New York Times poll, 53% of consumers said they would not buy food that has been genetically modified. Americans deserve the right to know, and that is why it is unethical for manufacturers to not have a GMO label on the products they sell.
GMOs are in 80% of conventional processed food. More specifically, genetically modified organisms are found in 88 to 90% of U.S crops such as; corn, cotton, soy, sugar beets, and even vegetables (“What Is GMO”). In 1994 a brand of tomatoes became the first commercially produced GMOs. However, GMOs was the result of the tomatoes tasting different which inevitably ended the first ...
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...ecrecy of what genetically modified organisms are doing to the food that we eat, and to our bodies. Education is the first step in the principled direction. Once people are aware of the dangers GMOs have towards their bodies, consumers will demand the attention they deserve. The desire for labeling will keep growing on America, and it will only be a matter of time before buyers know the truth. The argument about genetically modified organisms is a balance between the dangers GMOs has on your body, and the “benefactors” they have. If GMOs are bad, then they should be put on a label as a warning, however if GMOs are good, then labeling GMOs should not be a problem to the consumer nor the manufacturer. In conclusion, corporations who believe labeling is not a right are wrong, it is unethical to let buyers consume false products without them having any knowledge of it.
Food is an essential part of everyday life without it one could not survive. Every day we make choices on what we put in to our bodies. There are countless varieties of food to choose from to meet the diverse tastes of the increasing population. Almost all food requires a label explaining the ingredients and the nutritional value allowing consumers to make informed decisions on what they are consuming. However, many may not be considering where that food is coming from or how it has been produced. Unfortunately, there is more to food than meets the eye. Since 1992, “ the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ruled, based on woefully limited data, that genetically modified foods were ‘substantially equivalent’ to their non-GM counterparts” (Why to Support Labeling). GM food advocates have promised to create more nutritious food that will be able to grow in harsh climate conditions and eventually put an end to world hunger in anticipation of the growing population. There is very little evidence to support these claims and study after study has proven just the opposite. GM crops are not only unsafe to consume, but their growing practices are harmful to the environment, and multinational corporations are putting farmers out of business.
The word GMO stands for Genetically-Modified Organism and can also be referred to as Genetically Engineered foods, Genetically Modified Foods, and Biotech. Genetically engineered foods are created when one desired trait is isolated and introduced to another plant by inserting the certain gene. The process, considered genetic breeding, and is much more precise than the regular breeding. While GMOs have been in food for 20 years, currently, the controversy and genetically engineered farms are larger than ever. 82% of Americans want GMOs labeled, but majority fail to understand them (Swanson). 90% of all US grown corn, canola, soybeans, and sugar beets have DNA bits from the lab (Woolston). The United States is the top GMO growing country with 70 million hectares of land dedicated to these farms. (Lee). These modified crops and plants for human and animals are created mainly for withstand herbicides or to produce an insectide. “No GMO traits are on the market for bigger yields, drought resistance, enhanced nutrition or any other consumer benefit” (Burnham). Overall, GE foods’ main purpose is to save money for large corporations.
The first claim, made by the bioengineering companies creating the GMOs, is that the products are "resistan[t] to insects or viruses, toleran[t] [of] certain herbicides and [have] nutritionally enhanced quality" (Maghari 2). With resistance against pests and tolerance to harsher pesticides, bioengineers claim to be creating a super food that requires less maintenance and costs less. In fact, for many developing countries, this seems a promising start to the end of w...
Until the government creates mandates for issuing labels on foods that contain genetically modified ingredients, there are measures that can be taken by common citizens and supporters of GMO labeling in order to keep Americans safe in the meantime. Since “study after study points to potential health risks” (“Whole Foods Market”), supporters need to raise awareness amongst the rest of society in order to generate a large group that can begin to press the government to create a law to handle the issue. It is in “the state’s interest [to] protect consumers from false or potentially misleading communication or prevent consumers from suffering unwitting harms” (Adler). Moreover, the government must be the one to put an official end to the lack of
Our attitudes toward GMO foods range from hostility to indifference. GMO foods, like pesticide-resistant Roundup Ready soybeans and fast-growing salmon, seem to exist primarily to pad corporate pockets. Most people are not aware that they are eating GMO foods. The greater percentage of the population is just looking at the price tag instead of what is in the food product. This technology has the potential to provide sustainable nutrient rich food sources throughout the ages if the science is not abused for the food industry’s
The use of GMOs in foods has drastically risen in the United States. The Non-GMO project, a non-profit organization supports this by saying, “In the U.S., GMOs are in as much as 80% of conventional processed food”(Non-GMO Project). I decided to go shopping to try and find as many products as I could that were labeled GMO-free, I only found one product labeled GMO-free. Many people that purchase vegetables or fruits at the store are unaware that the foods they ar...
Alessandra Potenza informed the reader on the argument of GMOs in, “The Battle Over GMOs.” Scientist have proven it to be completely safe for humans to consume GMOs in their food. GMOs are a genetically modified organism, or the result of a cross breed of plants. Also the GMO business has taken advantage of the people, because they are not labeling if the food is genetically modified. GMO’s should be labeled because it is always good to know what you are consuming; and some people prefer not to consume GMO’s.
In recent discussions of health and wellness, the topic of genetically modified organisms in food has become very prevalent. A genetically modified organism or GMO is any living thing that has had its genes microscopically modified to pick up a trait it would originally lack. Almost every American has heard the term “GMO” however many do not know what they are and what benefits they hold. Thousands of people are beginning to eat “organic” foods free from GMOs because they believe the modifications to the food will cause health complications for those who consume them. On the other hand, the majority of Americans eat some kind of GMO in just about every meal. Research shows they are found in 80% of all processed foods in America today (Scipioni).
GMO labeling is important because there is uncertainty in the safety of GMOs, which indicates a need for long term monitoring, therefore labels are needed to facilitate monitoring by the scientific community and diagnosis by healthcare professionals. The point being made here is that, while the technology of GMO appears to be safe and has been in use commercially for nearly 20 years, it is nonetheless prudent to watch for problems (Dahl). In their scholarly article titled “’Does Contain’ vs. ‘Does Not Contain’; Does it Matter which GMO Label is Used?”, John Crespi and Stephan Marette quote statistics showing that “…21% of Americans feel that GM foods pose ‘serious safety risks’…”, and that the percentages for European nations range from 30%
In a world where healthy eating is always a fad, GMO Labeling is a hot topic. There are several misconceptions about GMOs. Products containing GMO's should be appropriately labeled because inappropriate marketing strategies could defer possible consumers, appropriate labels could help advocate understanding that GMO is not a negative additive and consumers have the right to know what is in their food. A GMO is defined as “an organism whose genome has been altered by the techniques of genetic engineering so that it’s DNA contains one or more genes not normally found there.” Research involving human consumption in GMOs has been in place since 1980, the FDA approved funding for GMOs in 1982. Even though they were approved in 1882, products containing GMOs did not hit grocery stores until late 1994.
Even though many do not know information about GMOs, some are being misinformed about the truth of GMOs. Since the creation of Genetically Modified Organisms in the 1930s, many have been told that GMOs are safe and do not have negative effects upon consumption, which is misleading and not fully trustworthy(Miller1). As a result, many who have been misleaded have been tricked into believing false information and are now affected with various risks. With various surveys being conducted in order to see the viewpoints of people on the use of GMOs in food, the number of people who are pro-GMO is only increasing. Whenever ⅓ of 1,000 people surveyed are in favor for chemicals that have a possibility of hurting them, then there must be a resolution to this ongoing problem(Philips1). The government should reduce these numbers and provide the truth to the public. We need to realize ourselves that the reality of food production is not being provided to us, and if we want to end the false ideas from affecting us anymore. Instead having 23% of 1000 people knowing about GMOs, everyone must know the truth and reality of the food production in the U.S(Non Gmo1). If so were to happen, consequently the future of the nation will become increasing in
“Genetically modified foods are a "Pandora's box" of known and unknown risks to humans and the environment. They have been forced onto the American public by multinational biotech and agribusiness corporations without adequate oversight and regulation by the United States government (Driscoll, SallyMorley, David C).”Genetically Modified Food is food which has been chemically altered by scientists during the production process to give the food more nutrients, better appearance, and a longer shelf-life (Rich, Alex K.Warhol, Tom). The importance of this issue is that these GMO’s can actually have a negative effect in our society in general. It could mutate in a negative way and cause cancer or other diseases. Genetically modified food should be strictly controlled due to its various detrimental effects on the environment, human health, and potentially insect/animal effects.
How many of you hear the words “genetically modified food” and immediately think “BAD”? How many of you scorn the idea that genetically modified foods are useful? How many of you have been manipulated by the media to think that all biotechnology is evil? Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are organisms that have been genetically spliced to achieve a certain trait. As the demand for a larger food supply is increasing due to population growth, the benefits that GMO foods provide are being hailed as the only solution to the food crisis. However, many people are making inadequately informed decisions, and are pushing them to the back shelf. I will inform you on why genetically modified organisms may be the only way to a stable, safe future for the less fortunate.
In todays society, people are more concerned about what they put into their body. They eat healthy and maintain a stable diet, but unknown to a number of these people is their food may have been tampered with in the form of Genetically Modified Organisms or, for short, GMO's. Genetically Modified Organisms are plants or animals whose DNA has been altered to favor a certain characteristic or trait which is already in the DNA of other plants and animals. Which includes enhancing the DNA in plants to make them larger, invincible to pests, or invincible towards weeds. Although, the reason why GMO's are a controversial topic is because GMO's have been known to kill animals, are a threat to our natural environment in many ways, and little is known
The demand for non-GMO foods is on a great rise all around the world. "Non-GMO products accounted for $550 billion of the 5 trillion global food And beverage retail market in 2014". Many people, in today's time, are being offset by negative perceptions of GMO products. Numerous consumers have pre-disposition and attitudes when it comes to their intentions of purchasing GMO foods. General consumers believes that "scientifically altered crops could be unethical and unsafe". The U.S. food and drug administration defines the term genetically modified organisms as "used by scientists to denote a living organism, that have been genetically modified, By inserting a gene from an unrelated species". In other words, they describe GMO's as an organism