Chelsea Stewart Food and the Environment 12-1-12 Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) Over the course of the

semester I have begun to realize that food is a huge contributor to environmental disaster and an area that typically gets over looked when discussing environmental topics. Foods that are injected with pesticides and hormones, are not only detrimental to the human body, but instead destroy agriculture and the air. Foods that contain genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are known to be unhealthy, especially meat. These GMOs have a bad reputation yet still manage to squeak by when it comes to making it to the grocery store shelves. In the United States, it is not a requirement to label foods as containing GMO, therefore, most companies opt to refrain from putting such information on the packaging. It is not saying that every food on the shelf contains GMOs, but more often than not, people are being conned into environmentally destructive food without any warning. Genetically modified food, and all types of food that are injected with toxins, are a main cause that contributes to the destruction of the environment, a topic commonly overlooked. When talking about GMOs, many people remain uneducated on the topic. The term GM foods or GMOs, refers to crop plants created for human or animal consumption with use of the latest molecular biology techniques. (Whitman) Furthermore this means that plants are no longer natural, but instead because of their biological make up is so altered, the plant injected with toxins becomes a plant of science. A plant of science is proven by not only transferring genes from one plant

to another, but also using genes from non-plant organisms prove this idea. (Whitman) Having plants that are genetically modified means that humans are injecting GMOs into plants and the environment is absorbing many different chemicals and unknown substances. Genetically modified foods have been shown to cause harm to humans, animals, and the environmental, and despite growing opposition, more and more foods continue to be genetically altered. (Renter) Having toxins in everyday food makes it nearly impossible to avoid ingesting these chemicals and with little regulation and safety tests performedwe have no way of knowing for certain what risks these lab-created foods pose to us outside of what we already know. (Renter) Although contrary to the fact that genetically modified foods are slowly killing humans and the environment, people believe that GMOs are beneficial due to their many different tolerances and resistance to toxins. GMOs have been known to have a level of pesticide resistance in which growing GMO foods such as B.T. corn can help eliminate the application of chemical pesticides and reduce the cost of bringing a crop to market. (Whitman) Also, genetically modified foods have a high herbicide tolerance; meaning that they do not need to worry about plants dying when they spray herbicides to kill the surrounding weeds. (Whitman) These GMOs also can tolerate the cold as well as desert like conditions due to their antifreeze genes by creating plants that an go without water for a long period of time. All of these qualities may seem cost effective and time savoy, but in fact these traits are what makes these foods toxic to humans as well as nature by disrupting the natural order of life. When humans digest these types of chemicals they need to change their

bodys tolerance, thus, making them ill and live shorter lives. The environment also suffers by absorbing unnatural byproducts of these plants as well as water being contaminated by the toxins these plants contain. There is a global phenomenon of genetically modified foods that are grown and distributed on a daily basis, but when solely looking at the United States there are more than forty different genetically modified crops that are distributed and sold. (Mellon) This is extremely detrimental to plants because it threatens variety within crops, which could potentially turn all crops into weeds if undesirable effects occur. (Mellon) Also, if these plants contain viruses that can easily spread, there could be a threat of having even more severe viruses that harm the environment and humans. (Mellon) By having a large variety of genetically modified crops, there becomes a greater chance that animals will come into contact with these plants and may become sick due to the unfamiliar toxins and chemicals. An example of this is the Monarch butterfly ingesting BT corn, which proved to be toxic, proving that butterflies are dying because these plants are toxic, leaving the question, how are these plants safe for humans and the environment? (Mellon) Nations around the world such as Germany, New Zealand and Austria are becoming more knowledgeable about the harmful affects of GMOs and banning growth and production. (What countries) With a nationwide ban of GMOs, people become healthier and the environment and the animals in the area thrive and grow naturally ultimately benefitting the land. With the use of chemical and genetically modified crops, there seems to be more long-term negative effects than short-term disasters. Crops that are

genetically engineered lose their nutrients by creating dry, unfertile soil, as well as shrinking plant size and quantity. (Von Schomberg) This is noticeable after years of pesticide and chemical use, which is detrimental because once these chemicals have been in the soil for a long period of time it takes even more work to extract all of the harmful toxins out. As stated before, there is a large decline in animal populations that live around areas affected by these chemicals; although it takes years to notice drops of wildlife population and in some cases it is too late to save certain species. (Von Schomberg) Over longer periods of time, these plants can create viruses that are immune to pesticides and herbicides that kill the other viruses off, thus making harmful diseases spread without the ability to know how to prevent these diseases. (Von Schomberg) When there becomes a cure for a new disease, these chemicals have created, it allows for new viruses to arise due to the lengthy process of finding a cure. With the rapidly growing population and the constant need for more, scientists are creating new GMOs more frequently then ever before. This rapid pace of production can be damaging to human health by forcing crops onto the market without properly testing their side effects. (Ackerman) Since these GMOs are becoming popular within farms, more people ingest these toxins ultimately releasing even more harmful waste into the environment. This creation of new waste and new genes by combining two unlike genes allows for higher disease rates and shortages of food across the globe. When the GMOs create unfertile soil people are left with rising food disease through unhealthy living and the destruction of the right to healthy food. Since genetically engineered foods have been around for

decades it becomes increasingly harder to avoid GMOs and production. The first type of genetically modified foods was conventional breeding. Conventional breeding is the cross between two organisms that are similar, but now due to GMOs, two organisms that are completely different are being bonded thus creating a totally new organism. (Ackerman) After looking at all of the negative side effects that genetically modified foods produce, it may seem hard to avoid these toxins, but in fact it is possible and quite easy. The first step is avoiding food that is produced in a factory farm due to their large consumption of water to produce foods like meat. If one person gave up meat they would save 2,500 to 5,000 gallons of water from being used, of which all the water is coming from underground aquifers. (Boyan) Another reason to avoid factory farms is that they produce large amounts of toxic waste and use an absurd amount of fossil fuels. The animals in these factories are fed food that is injected with tons of antibiotics to keep them alive for certain amount of time due to overcrowding. These antibiotics are made from fossil fuels like oil in order to make the fertilizer for the corn that the animals are fed. (Boyan) Once the animals have eaten the corn they produce an even larger amount of waste that remains untreated and unsanitary from all the chemicals in he animals food. (Boyan) Lastly, the fact that the production of this food is shipped out to other nations, or imported into the United States, creating a corrupt amount of food miles. Food Miles are the distance food travels to reach a certain location where it is to be consumed. These food miles not only pollute our air, but also deplete rainforests and coral reefs from the large amount of carbon dioxide that is released into the air. (Boyan) By simply eliminating

food that was produced in large factory farms people can help save the environment, reduce human illness and the animals living in these factories. It stands true that unhealthy food is cheaper and easy to come across than food that is organic and good for people, but with the changing mindset of healthy eating, organic food can become cheaper and easier to obtain. According to Harvard professors, racial/ethnic minority groups in the U.S. Environmental (encounter) barriers to healthy eating are often greater for people who have lower incomes, less education, and language barriers, and traditional healthy diet education campaigns often fail to reach them. The inability to become educated on food effects the way an individual eats, but if their were more healthy food campaigns set up to reach these racial and ethnic minority groups there would be a movement toward healthy foods ultimately creating less waste and pollution. By targeting families and workplaces to incorporate healthy foods into their everyday lifestyle there can be a slow depletion of these toxic factory farms. (Harvard professors) Another large area of concern are schools, by allowing for healthy and organic foods to overturn unhealthy, toxic foods in school cafeterias children grow up with more knowledge on why it is important to eat healthy foods. This may seem like an elementary idea, but in fact it will take time and effort from individuals who are passionate about changing our food in order to truly make a difference among common folk in the United States. Genetically modified organisms are an increasing problem in the United States when it comes to human health and the environment. With large-scale production of chemically injected foods it is hard to avoid the consumption of toxic

foods. Lack of knowledge is also a problem when it comes to understanding GMOs and what is put into everyday foods as well as the chemicals and pollutants that are released into the air. By creating campaigns that support the expansion of organic foods, it will not only help create healthier lifestyles, but also allow for individuals to become more knowledgeable about what they are eating and where it comes from. In order to save our planet from complete destruction, the issue of food needs to become a priority among Americans and other individuals worldwide.

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Whitman, Deborah. "Genetically Modified Foods: Harmful or Helpful?" ProQuest. CSA, Apr. 2000. Web. 5 Dec. 2012.