Superfoods, or Super fail?
By Jason Chiu-Skow, Staples High School ‘21
When most people hear healthy, they think of fruits and vegetables. But do you really know what you’re putting into your body? You may have heard about Genetically Modified Organisms also known as GMOs, but you may not know just how many there are. In reality, 90% of corn, 91% of cotton, and 94% of soybeans are genetically modified (GMO OMG), so chances are, unless these products specifically state themselves as non-GMOs, you have more than likely consumed one, knowingly or not. So what's with these GMOs? Are they really that bad for you?
There is a lot of talk going around about Genetically Modified Organisms and how they could harm or even kill people. While convincing, it's easy to discover the truth that GMOs are harmless. To first clear the air about the effects of GMO foods, “A 2016 study shows that GMOs have minimal negative or side effects on humans, while pesticides and herbicides may be somewhat damaging for humans, but are definitely harmful for the environment and soil” (Learning to Love GMOs). GMOs themselves aren’t necessarily the problem, and that if anything, pesticides are more responsible for the stereotypes applied to GMOs by the public. More proof of the role of pesticides in harming the human body, is Roundup, and how “Several courts have ruled in favor of cancer victims who were exposed to the chemical, and more lawsuits are in the wings” (A Decade of Pesticides). This is just one example of how the public confuses GMOs and pesticides, citing cancer as a product of consuming GMOs, when in actuality, it's the pesticides used on them. While GMOs may not be completely blameless themselves, the effects the public has issues with are actually more related to pesticide use.
Now we know that GMOs aren’t the problem, why are there still people fighting against GMOs instead of focusing solely on pesticides? One explanation that plant Biologist Cathie Martin provides is that “For the majority of people, the anxiety around G.M.O.s is almost entirely untethered to an understanding of what’s happening at a scientific level” (Learning to Love GMOs). An explanation of this is that GMOs and pesticides are often confused, and as a result, unfairly used as generally interchangeable terms. Even further proof of this was from the documentary “GMO OMG”, when Monsanto, a large producer of GMO corn, gifted their corn to the haitian people, who refused the gift, and burned all Monsanto corn seeds given to them. The reason they gave for this was that if they “accepted the seeds of life” , they would lose their natural ones, and by that way, lose their culture (GMO OMG). While The reasoning of the Haitians is understandable, burning the seeds did more harm than good. There is something to be said about preventing pesticides to become prevalent through the use of GMOs, however the Haitians appear only to have burned the seeds due to their beliefs that crops should remain natural. Their lack of under
There are many negative effects of GMOs understood to be mostly true, So what about the positive effects? While there are several pros to using GMOs, one reason many people don’t know about them is because of anti-GMO protestors who refuse to accept anything regarding GMOs, which I believe to be their misuse of their full potential. Currently, GMOs are used for the most part by companies to make the most profit. aside from the slight cost reduction, consumers don’t benefit much from the use of GMOs, and are instead put at risk of the many effects of pesticides, which is why many refuse to support them. For this reason. I believe that some anti-GMO protesters have a point. However, one example of what I believe to be a good use of GMOs, is Cathie Martin’s Indigo tomato. Unlike other tomatoes, her genetically modified Indigo tomato was produced to have larger amounts of anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer properties.
GMOs have been shunned since their creation. While there may be reasons to be skeptical, GMOs are in general a good thing, allowing for more crops to be grown in a smaller area. Rather than companies using GMOs for profit, the true calling of GMOs is to create food and plants that directly help and improve the health and lives of people.
Work Cited
"A Decade of Pesticides, GMOs, and Alternatives to Chemical-Intensive Farming."
Civil Eats, 10 Apr. 2019, civileats.com/2019/04/10/
a-decade-of-pesticides-gmos-and-alternatives-to-chemical-intensive-farming/.
Accessed 23 Nov. 2021.
GMO OMG. Produced by Jeremy Seifert, 2013. Amazon Prime, www.amazon.com/
GMO-OMG-Jeremy-Seifert/dp/B00L0YUS16. Accessed 23 Nov. 2021.
Hakim, Danny. "Doubts About the Promised Bounty of Genetically Modified Crops."
The New York Times, New York Times, 29 Oct. 2016, www.nytimes.com/2016/
10/30/business/gmo-promise-falls-short.html. Accessed 23 Nov. 2021.
Kahn, Jennifer. "Learning to Love G.M.O.s." The New York Times, New York Times,
21 July 2021, www.nytimes.com/2021/07/20/magazine/gmos.html. Accessed 23
Nov. 2021.