Today, GMOs are in practically everything we consume, unless it directly states ‘organic’ or ‘GMO free’. Although GMOs are almost everywhere, it wasn’t always that way. GMOs didn’t hit grocery store shelves until 1994. So how did a relatively new invention work its way into our lives so rapidly and can we reverse it, or are we in too deep? Not only are GMOs a growing threat, but the growth hormones given to cows are causing damages to our health as well. The hormones allow cows to produce more milk to meet the consumers demand but the have serious consequences to our health including a higher risk for cancer. As the world’s population grows, surely our demand for food will also. The consequences of GMOs are not fully known yet, but there is mounting evidence, that they don’t have a positive influence on our health. While there are other alternatives to GMOs such as eating organically, that isn’t possible for everyone. Eating organically is definitely not economical. We all know it's way easier and more affordable to go to McDonald’s and get a $4.00 Big Mac than it is to shop for organic ingredients and prepare a meal. In order to fight the war against GMOs everyone needs to stand up against them, but we all know not everyone will. This leads me to wonder if we can even have a world without GMOs….
Marissa, I found your post very interesting! It's quite fascinating to think about how GMO's are in so many foods we consume yet life wasn't always that way. Your post got me thinking about the history of GMO's and I did a little research myself. From prehistoric times to 1900 gatherers found food from plants they found in nature and farmers planted seeds from domesticated crops. In 1900, European plant scientists began using Gregor Mendel's genetic theory to manipulate and improve plant species, which was called "classic selection." By 1980, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Diamond v. Chakrabarty that genetically altered life forms can be patented. In 1992, the FDA declared that genetically engineered foods are not dangerous and do not require special regulation. But, are genetically engineered foods really NOT dangerous? As you mentioned, the growth hormones given to cows to produce more milk have a significant impact on our health and provide a high risk for cancer. It's tremendously difficult to keep up with everything we consume and in order to live an entirely healthy life, one probably has to go out of their way to purchase organic foods, which is not exactly affordable for the common man. It seems that GMOs have simply become something that is practically impossible to avoid.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, we need to take a stand against GMOs but the way they have rapidly tooken over the food industry it will be extremely hard to do so. GMOs are in almost everything and they help accommodate for the rabid demand in food. However, anything thing that arises so fast and quickly will have extreme consequences later on.
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