The Pros And Cons Of Genetically Modified Foods

Drought and extreme weather conditions cause the drying up of crops and warmer climates also increase the breeding of insects, pests and diseases causing lower crop productivity. Crop yields decline while the demand for food continues to increase and this shows that the rain fed agricultural system is not efficient and effective. What therefore can be solution to ensure Africa has food security and is able to feed her people? I believe GMO crops offer a solution to this problem that has been facing Africa for many years.

The Omnivore’s Dilemma is a non-fiction book that discusses the relationship between the food and our daily life. Michael Pollan, the author of this book, points out the advantages and disadvantages of subsidy on corn. Given the corn is one of the major crops in our daily life, there are lots of corn’s by-products in the supermarket, even the nonfood items. Some people believe corn is a miracle crop because they are impressed by the wide-ranged of corn products; On the other hand, some people think the expansion of corn industry leads to social, environmental, and economic problems. In Pollan’s view, he questions about the outcomes of the subsidy and believes it creates different negative problems to the society.

Gmo foods take just as much effort to grow, meaning that there is no real economic value to growing Gmo foods when compared to non-GMO foods. ? Wait.. majority say these are good for you? Well, let’s just say it’s good and bad for you.

Pesticides serve many functions, some of which are more essential to society than others. Pesticides can prevent crop failure, control invasive plants, or promote a uniformly green lawn. Some pesticides reduce blemishes on fruit and vegetables, ensuring that a greater proportion of the crop is marketable. Negative Effects of Pesticides According to the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, pesticides have as yet incompletely understood effects on humans.

This is significant in certain plants such as the Kudzu plant. Kudzu plants are also an invasive species that can cause damage throughout the ecosystem. The effect the Kudzu bug has on the environment is dependent on what it eats. Not only do they eat the soy bean plants, but they eat the stems and leaves of many different legumes . This can lead to extreme reductions in soybean growth.

Although not illegal in other countries, farmers struggled with the ethical practice of the product. Farmers were not supportive with the production of GM seeds due to religious, social and cultural conflicts (Hail & Vredenburg, 2003). However, other farmers found that the growth was less work and less land was used, as the crops grew rapidly. With a growing population, farmers realize that they need to grow more food. The Monsanto Company vowed to assist farmers by creating GM seeds that are more drought resistant.

In The Americas, the Europeans destroyed forests and accidentally introduced weeds that quickly outcompeted their native neighbors, ruining the American

Genetically modified foods, also known as genetically modified organisms are biologically altered foods. Scientists put a desired gene from one plant, animal, or organism into another plant, in the hope that more crops are grown and have resistance to disease, drought, and pesticides. You likely have several items in your kitchen that are genetically modified that you don’t even know about. According to Livestrong.com, more than 88% of all soy, corn, squash, and cotton plants grown in the U.S. are genetically modified. Animal products like eggs, meat, and milk contain genetically modified foods, because the food fed to livestock is usually genetically modified.

The big risk involved in consuming products like the transgenic banana and tomato is that the side effects are unknown; therefore, if ever they are discovered in the future, the impact on human health will be permanent. Some traditional farming economies are destroyed by genetically modified products companies. Lastly, the big disadvantage of genetic engineering is the overwhelming ethical and moral objections. Similar to biotechnology reservations, manipulations of organisms’ genetic makeup is a play of God’s work and idea of the world that He created. Furthermore, with genetic engineering some very bizarre modifications have been made and many are worried about scientists going too far with altering the order of life because there are no restrictions to their work.

Food production has been a matter that has been disputed for years now because of the things that have been added to crops. While pesticide helps keep other organisms from taking crop harvest, it has also added chemicals into the food that we consume; chemicals that should not be inside of us. Genetic engineering would allow for the natural modification of food to provide DNA genes that can be used to act as a shield against pests and diseases. With the DNA modification of crops, there would be no need to

For instance, due to them eating insects and other organisms they help farmers maintain their crops healthy. Spiders can also help prevent more people from getting infected of Malaria. Not only are spiders beneficial predators but they are also the prey for other organisms. Spiders are another food source for many organisms in the food chain. In many ways spiders are important in the food chain; they affect the chain no matter what role they play.

Well, now we can see what a good agricultural system’s effect can have on the outcome of a civilization. This is why it is very important to sustain, and even for our ancestors, a good agricultural system to support its people, because if they didn’t, I might not have been here right now. It’s crazy to think that how much of a little topic this is can have such a big impact on its future technology. It’s more than just some source of food, agriculture can determine whether a civilization will thrive, or go down. Just imagine how our current day lives would be if our ancestors didn’t care about agriculture and just took the resources in their area and left it and empty

An even newer invention is the GMO, genetically modified organism. It is where you can alter the genes of a plant, by adding certain types of DNA. This corn is not only put in our food, but it is to pigs, chicken, and cattle who are injected with hormones and antibiotics. We are then eating these animals, and with them the hormones and antibiotics they contain.

An example of this is corn, a common GMO. The manipulation of genes that have formed genetically modified corn has allowed it to become widely available to consumers because of its increase in numbers and decrease in price. If the genetically modified strain of cabbage would be more expensive, the economy and social aspect would be affected in a negative way since people would be unable to afford it and would no longer be able to eat cabbage. The final factor that would need to be taken into consideration is the environmental impact of a GMO.

Norman Borlaug was an agricultural scientist who helped increase agricultural production worldwide because many countries were in famine during the 1960s to the 1980s. He also was one of the main contributors to the Green Revolution. Borlaug and other scientists were trying to find a fix for the agricultural struggle during this time. The Green Revolution was an agricultural movement where increased crop production increased saving the lives of the people in third world countries. The Green Revolution impacted and saved billions of lives through the development plant breeds, exchange of agrarian techniques, and increase of agricultural technologies.