Over the years there has been a lot of debate about what is healthy and what we should be eating. Now more than ever, we have access to this information making us responsive consumers. However, it’s possible that with an increased access to information, we focus on teaching people how to navigate content more than we teach them how to qualify it. Either way, some innocent bystanders got dragged into the issue of “healthy food,” and among them are GMOs.
If you’re unfamiliar, GMO’s are organisms, in this case crops, which have been modified by genetic engineering techniques. The goal of this practice is to create crops that are more resilient or efficient for the food supply. This may come as a surprise to some, but we have been doing this long before companies like Monsanto came along. Of course, it used to be called plant breeding and people did it in their backyards by cross pollinating varieties of a fruit, vegetable, or whatever else they wanted. That method of altering plants was less frightening because it left room for error and it wasn’t done in a lab. However, the results are very much the same.
Fighting GMO’s is fighting against the environment. It’s counter to everything people who want to support the Organic Movement say they represent! The fact is GMO’s require less of everything. You can modify plants to use less water or nutrients from the soil with an end goal to produce the same amount or more food. Why wouldn’t you want to conserve those resources? Maybe you need something more immediately impactful to understand though. How about pesticides, insecticides, and fertilizer? Most people don’t like those. We can use LESS of all of them if we modify the plants to be more resilient. Isn’t that something you would be in favor of?
Now, I’m not saying everything about GMO’s are great. If you really want to get upset about something related to GMO’s you’ll get upset with the companies that develop them and their business practices toward the farmers. That’s worth getting worked up over! In conclusion, there are real health threats to your health and the environment out there, but GMO’s aren’t one of them.
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