What are GMOs and should I really avoid them?

Genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, tend to get a bad rap. Play a word association game with GMOs and people often think of gross mutations, unhealthy food and general waste. To put it simply, in the minds of many people, GMOs are just another term for “bad” foods. But are GMOs really as bad as you think?

When it comes to GMOs, there is this idea that you have to be completely for or completely against them. The problem is, most people don’t realize what makes something genetically modified, or how common GMOs are. Fun fact: unless you are eat certified organic foods exclusively, you are probably consuming GMOs. And if you look at the big picture, most of the forms of “household” food we eat – like watermelon – don’t look at all like their “wild” counterparts, or even their “wild” counterparts. 17th century ancestors.

Instead of pushing to say that GMOs are inherently good or bad, it is important to understand what GMOs are today and to think about their role in the future. Before we can get into all of this, however, let’s break down what “genetically modified organism” really means.

What are GMOs?

Speak World Health Organization, GMOs are organisms whose genetic material “has been altered in a way that does not occur naturally by mating and / or natural recombination”. Most people associate GMOs with plants; an example of how to genetically modify them is to clone them.

Eating cloned food may seem uncomfortable, but most of us have. For example, bananas are clones that have been around since the Stone Age. But the bottom line to notice here: GMOs aren’t just called genetically modified plants for a reason. Scientists are more than capable of genetically modifying other organisms, such as animals.

Last year, scientists cloned a black-footed ferret, marking the first time that an endangered native species has been cloned in the United States. However, animal cloning has been around for much longer than that. Remember Dolly the sheep, which became the first mammal successfully cloned from an adult cell in 1996?

You could try to argue that GMOs have been around almost always because of selective breeding. However, while many consider selective breeding to be the oldest method of genetic modification, Live Science reported that it is not generally included in the category of GMO foods. The first GMO marketed in the United States was the Flavr Savr tomato in 1994.

Are GMOs bad for me?

When it comes to genetically modified foods, most people worry about the potential health risks. But there is no way to say that all GM foods are good or bad for your health. The WHO recommends instead that GM foods be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

Allergies are one of the biggest concerns people have when it comes to genetically modified foods. However, the WHO states that in principle “transfer of genes from commonly allergenic organisms to non-allergic organisms is discouraged unless it can be demonstrated that the protein product of the transferred gene is not allergenic” . In addition, the FDA has declared that unless you are allergic to the non-GMO version of a food, you will not be allergic to the genetically modified version.

But this is all about the food itself, not the way it is grown or the businesses associated with it. Monsanto is perhaps one of the most infamous agricultural companies. The company has produced a herbicide, Roundup, and Roundup-ready crops, which have been genetically engineered to be Roundup resistant. This way, farmers could use the herbicide to control pests in their fields without killing their crops.

[JOSH EDELSON/AFP via Getty Images]

However, Roundup was linked to many cases of cancer. Roundup’s links to cancer were known to Monsanto and federal officials, but documents show that in 1985, eight members of the toxicology arm of the Environmental Protection Agency reversed their classification of glyphosate – the main ingredient in Roundup – as a carcinogen, claiming instead that it was “not susceptible to be carcinogenic “. APE maintains this post.

“The EPA has a long history with the companies it regulates,” said Carey Gillam, author of The Monsanto Papers: Deadly Secrets, Corporate Bribery, and One-Man Justice (Island Press, 2021), said Sierra. “The result is that profits are protected, and not public health.”

What regulations exist for GMOs?

In the United States, any genetically modified food must be approved by both the EPA and the Food and Drug Administration before it can be marketed. The Ministry of Agriculture has also play a rolebecause its Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is supposed to ensure that GMOs are not harmful to other plants. Its Biotechnology Regulatory Services business then puts these regulations into practice.

For a long time, foods that used GMOs were not required to have a label revealing their presence. That changed when former President Barack Obama signed a law on labeling directed to groceries. The law itself was not necessarily about GMOs or safety, but rather labeling. Essentially, the result was that restaurants, food trucks and the like didn’t have to provide labels mentioning the use of GMOs, unlike grocery stores. A big downside? Meat, poultry and egg products are not included in the law at all.

The law was critical for two main reasons. First, it was seen as a preventative measure to prevent states from developing their own restrictions after Vermont passed a much tougher law in May 2014 that NBC News said required foods to say “genetically engineered” . In addition, federal law still allowed labels to be obscure. As reported by NBC News, companies could disclose the use of GMOs in plain language on the packaging itself. But they could also provide a QR code, a 1-800 number, or a website to visit for more product information.

So … why else are people wary of GMOs?

When it comes to GMOs, there is another source of concern: their impact on indigenous sovereignty. As I said above, you can argue that selective breeding is a way to genetically modify plants – and by that logic, the indigenous people who grew corn thousands of years ago made GMOs. However, small-scale genetic modification, like selective breeding in indigenous communities, is very different from the GMOs implemented by global capitalism.

“Our islands and our people are now used as guinea pigs for the development and release of genetically modified organisms.”

A number of indigenous communities protested against the use of GMOs. For example, in 2005, Le`a Kanehe, then a legal analyst for the Indigenous Peoples Council on Biocolonialism, issued a statement against the use of GMOs in Hawaii. “Just as Hawaii was used as a sacrifice area for bombing and US military training,” Kanehe said, “our islands and our people are now used as guinea pigs for the development and release of organisms. genetically modified “.

In 2019, Indian Country Today continues reported on the position against GMOs as a position for sovereignty. Journalist Darla Antoine wrote that five of the world’s largest biotech companies are using the Hawaiian Islands for testing chemicals and food engineering. As a result, Antoine wrote, “70 different chemicals were sprayed on genetically modified crops in field trials that were not disclosed to the public, meaning surrounding communities were given no warning or a chance to protect themselves from exposure by the wind, water or contaminated soil. “

In addition to concerns about the impact of GMO cultivation on the environment, many indigenous communities worry about the impact of the mere presence of GMOs on crops that are culturally important. For example, UNESCO has recognized traditional Mexican cuisine as a Intangible cultural heritage, and part of that relies on the use of native corn products.

In 2013, a coalition of 53 people and non-governmental organizations filed a class action lawsuit to end the cultivation of genetically modified corn. Through Impact Fund, the lawsuit asserted that GM corn threatens the diversity and integrity of native corn. This, in turn, not only threatens cultural heritage, but could also harm low-income farmers, small producers and others who depend on native corn and their products.

It is clear that GMOs are a complicated subject, even if you only focus on food. Although genetically modified foods do not necessarily pose an immediate inevitable risk to human health, their production certainly can. There may be room for genetically modified foods in the future, but maybe only if they are separated from the capitalist farming system as we know it.

About Alma Ackerman

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