Today in 2014, companies are changing their systems, schools are molding new ways of thinking and people are willingly trying to better understand how food is grown and processed… all for our one and only beautiful world.  GMO’s, Genetically modified organisms are plants or animals that have been genetically engineered with DNA from bacteria, viruses or other plants and animals.

The list of benefits that GMO’s have for farmers or the food industry as a whole is pretty lengthy, but perhaps not enough to satisfy everyone’s needs. For example, corn, one of the most important and widely grown grain in the United States is very vulnerable to many pests and diseases, so the organisms assist its growth. Along with this, it has been said that the GMO’s create foods with better texture, flavor and nutritional value, foods with a longer shelf life for easier shopping, and that GM foods can create an essential sustainable way to feed the world.

All of the above would make perfect sense if there was no harm humans, but sadly this is the case.

As most plants produce substances that are toxic to humans, most of the plants that we humans consume produce these toxin levels low enough that they don’t encourage any negative health effects. There is a concern that inserting an exotic gene into a plant could cause it to produce toxins at higher levels that could be dangerous to human.

Last year in 2013 a New York Times poll resulted that three-quarters of Americans surveyed expressed concern about GMO’s in their food, with most of those worried about the health risks.

When the bill to ban genetically engineered crops on the island of Kona Hawaii was introduced in May 2013, it brought more attention than expected.

While some see GMO’s as a negative topic and want nothing to do with it, some are relying on modifications to increase the growth of wheat.  Without the benefits of the newer molecular techniques of genetic engineering, the nations wheat industry will continue to struggle against other commodities that have adopted biotechnology, and against the drought conditions out West. In the article “We Need G.M.O’s by Jayson Lusk and Henry I. Miller in the New York Times, they explain that wheat farmers “missed out” on perhaps the most important benefit of genetic engineering: the development of crops that can survive droughts or grow with lower-quality water. If these attributes were existent, they would go a long way to improving wheat yields and making the crop more attractive to farmers.

As a large population in Hawaii do not want to increase GMO consumption or are skeptical about it, other countries like China, Brazil and Indonesia are deeply concerned about their food security and have limited opportunities for growth in domestic production. Wheat and genetically engineered are hopefully soon going to be good friends.