[X] My Assistant

[The Unholy Diver]

Also known as "Frankenstein foods", genetically modified foods have become increasingly popular in the last few years.
Just recently, there was an uproar about a local restaurant nearby serving GM foods, and a few people vowing never to eat there again just because of it.

This begs the question: are GM foods really that bad?
And if they are, what's really so bad about them? And if they aren't, why not?

In my opinion, i really don't see anything wrong with them. They're put through several tests to make sure they're safe, just like any other food, and they show a lot of promise in both improving our quality of food and the quantity in which it's produced.

So what's your opinion?

[Calyhex]

I'm going to approach this purely as someone who has worked with human GMOs and non altered GMOs.

Yes, that is an important distinction. All food is genetically modified. It's been bred and hybridized over generations. Stick around farmers long enough and you'll find people eventually cooing over various strains of tomatoes, corn, beans, potatoes, etc that whatever family has been breeding for years, even generations. They've hybridized them for what they want. These are those "heirloom" plants you pay top dollar for in big box stores, or the really expensive seeds for your organic garden.

However, when most people talk about GMOs they're talking about scientists playing with lasers and making dinosaurs. Oh...wait.

So, GMOs. They're becoming an issue for farmers for multiple reasons.

1. Seed price. With popularity spikes a decade ago and since, GMO crops have cornered a lot of the market and the seed price has raised on farmers to make them actually more expensive, because those companies don't see anyone moving away from them in the long run. Also? Farmers can't save seeds year to year, because of patents. GMO seeds cost 40% more than conventional seeds.

2. Genetic drift and GMO contamination, which can kill farms because farmers are blamed, even though they can't control pollination. StarLink Corn contaminating food supplies depressed corn prices and put farms out of business. They sued and won. This happened with rice in 2006, wheat in 2013, and corn again in 2014. Why were all these an issue? Because they weren't approved for human consumption yet, or weren't approved in other countries. So, it killed our exports and farms went under, and organic farmers who don't even use GMOs can lose their certification if cross-pollination happens with GMO plants from another farm.

3. Weeds: Heard about issues with Roundup? It was created to deal with weeds around GMOs. However, since it was created there are glyphosate-resistant weeds, that are very hard to kill. At least 14 documented. Glyphosate increases diseases in crops and blights by altering plants’ ability to absorb nutrients, not to mention destroying soil microbes and ecology. Why was it used? Because it was required to tend GMO corn from Monsanto.

4. Lack of biodiversity. Some people claim we should move to 100% GMOs. If that were to happen, say everyone was using GMO 60 corn, and a blight were to occur that would wipe out GMO corn, all corn would be lost.I don't know if anyone knows history, but does anyone know why Irish came to America in droves? This. Right here. There was little to know biodiversity between potato species, a blight came, and hey, presto change-o, Irish Potato Famine.

5. Issues with GMO plants. Feeding animals BT corn is just not goin to happen unless you give them nothing else. Conception rates also drop for them on BT corn if that's all they get. Dr. Judy Carman from Flinders University did a long term study and found a thickening of the uterus in livestock fed with genetically modified corn and soy, while others had severe stomach inflammation not found in the control groups.

6. Financial issues: Many countries won't accept GMO grown foods. This means that GMO farmers often can't sell off the stock they grow. The government has to save them, but the farm stays afloat because it gets money for "tech fees." This hurts our exports, creates more waste, and strains the Dept of Ag.

And now I will shut up.