Assignment 1: A Lonely Quest for Facts on Genetically Modified Crops

GMO stands for Genetically Modified Organism and within the article assigned we discover what GMO’S really are. Simply by online research the extra facts I needed to know about GMO’s was not far from a search engine result. The first things that appeared were the effects of GMO’s and the probable causes of its existents to human nature. Surely I thought to myself this cannot be good, even the so called organic food I buy from supermarkets such as Whole Foods and Trader Joes were being questioned if they really posed as organic, GMO free etc. Late last year Whole Foods was sued for fake non-GMO labeling, according to an article posted on the Washington Post, Whole Foods was falsely advertising items, displaying them as GMO free when independent tests were run on these products, many of them proved to have traces of GMO’s. At this point it was when the media displayed the true risks of GMO’s and the unknown facts we are all blind to.

Personally growing up in the United Kingdom and Nigeria, I would look at how fruit and vegetables varied drastically. After all I thought it is the same fruit, they do taste the same, the only difference was the appearance. An example would be the size of Bananas, in Nigeria they appeared to be much smaller, darker, and extremely sweet but in England, Bananas would appear to be larger, much larger at least double in size and not as sweet. Although I knew Nigeria was based in a tropical climate and England was not, I learnt quickly the difference was there were no “extras” put into the fruits in Nigeria. All, which grew naturally, farmed by locals and sold locals on the street stalls and supermarkets.

In 2013 when a bill presented in the state of Hawaii was to ban all genetically engineered crops many supported this due to the reason of a growing rate of problems in relation to GMO’s. Many were uneducated about what exactly GMO’s were and the great risk they presented to the health. However, the allegations against GMO’s others wondered was there any proof to state that it was truly a risk to the health as it is used so often.

Looking at GMO’s the simple reason why McDonalds would not enter the Nigerian market like KFC, Dominos and many other American fast food chains was due to not being able to receive mass production of ingredients at the same time. GMO’s is not something you find in Nigeria as stated before, the tomatoes come in all shapes and sizes, unlike the ones found in the United States, where they all seem to be the same size, down to the millimeter. KFC and Dominos were able to adapt to this market, however McDonalds as the grandfather of fast food simply declined many times to enter the Nigerian market due to the scarcity of ingredients. This shows the benefits that GMO’s have on the current food market, making life simply, more profitable and sustainable.

However, the article “A Lonely Quest for Facts on Genetically Modified Crops” presents several facts on GMO’s through a local Hawaiian man who searches for the truth about GMO’s. Through his research what he found was helpful for his part and other parts disturbing. According to his research was that the dangers associated with GMO’s may were found to be incorrect and the benefits of GMO’s were simply overlooked by the bad publicity being received. The experiment which tested rats consuming GMO products displayed the results of which the rats were more prone growing tumors, however the study was deemed as inaccurate due to the sample size of data being an extremely small pool of rats which were already prone to growing tumors without the consumption of GMO’s.

The little evidence presented regarding GMO’s being bad for humans takes light away from the good GMO’s present. The benefits are the economy is able to function in a more sustainable manner with crops being produced in a shorter amount of time and being able to feed a growing human race. The cost of foods that do not use GMO’s has become a luxury in for humans, those believing non-GMO foods are technically better.

The bill that was presented in Hawaii opened up a new conversation regarding GMO’s and although it was supported by many GMO’s were proven to be unavoidable. It has now been indented in society and with the convenience presented many cannot divert from living without GMO’s. With research and development the true risks of GMO’s should be presented so we will be able to control without skeptical issues and rumors posed to health.