GMO Persuasive Essay

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Christian Jimenez
25 June 2014
Session 2 GMO: The Worldwide Food Problem
Everyday, billions of people enjoy from meals, whether it’s breakfast, lunch, dinner, or just a little snack, but most of the people never ask themselves the one big question behind those meals: what’s in them? One big issue that leads to many to ask this question are GMOs, also known as Genetically Modified Organisms (Food). If you did not know, GMOs are special organisms in which the genetic material has been altered for improvement productivity and product quality. People have been genetically altering foods for hundreds of years, but due to recent technological advancements, the potential of these foods have changed drastically. Many scientists believe that genetically modifying foods could help end world hunger while others say that it could result in human and environmental catastrophe.
Firstly, GMO labeling has been an argument all throughout the food industry and has caused many people to fight over who’s right and who’s not. GMO labeling is one of the factors into why GMO is considered a bad idea as there is no such thing as GMO labeling in the US any many other countries. Though, GMO labeling is a great idea, it has led to some interesting concerns economically. In 2012, a proposition know as prop 37 was set to be voted on in
California. Proponents argued that "Proposition 37 gives us the right to know what is in the food we eat and feed to our families”, but opponents argued that “Prop. 37 would: create new government bureaucracy costing taxpayers millions, authorize expensive shakedown lawsuits against farmers and small businesses, and increase family grocery bills by hundreds of dollars per year." Proponents on the other hand, claimed that some organic US food processors argued

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that the changes in labeling will have no effect on consumer costs because companies change their labeling all the time, as it is, and changing labels is a regular cost already built into the price consumers pay for products. Proponents also believed that if the proposition is accepted in
California, it would increase the likelihood that other states will also adopt the same rules. In turn, if enough states do decide to adopt GMO labeling laws, it is possible that the national government will become involved and take action. Though, unfortunately, Prop 37 was defeated with only 48% of supporters, the economic problem with GMO labeling is still being argued today as well as being solved.
Secondly, GMO has had caused many health concerns over the years, not only to humans, but as well as mother nature as it has had barely any beneficial effect for it. There has been much concerns for GMO’s safety as unlike the strict safety evaluations for approval of new drugs, there are no mandatory human clinical trials of genetically engineered crops, no tests for carcinogenicity or harm to fetuses, no long­term testing for human health risks, no requirement for long­term testing on animals, and limited testing for allergenicity. There has also been a numerous amount of effects that GMO can have such as food allergies, increased toxicity, decreased nutritional value, antibiotic resistance, and so on. Other effects that GMO can have to the world are damaging the environment by using GMO plants, bringing global economic imbalance, bringing more hunger to third world countries as they cannot afford, and so forth.
Globally, a series of recent reports reveal that non­GMO, low input, sustainable farming practices can alleviate hunger, reduce dependency on fossil fuels and chemicals, use resources efficiently, and create healthier communities. This shows that GMO labeling must be allowed so we can have let concerns in what we eat and choose.

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Finally, although there are many potential risks there are also many potential benefits.
Like the old saying goes, "with great power comes great responsibility” ­Stan Lee. Like almost all new technologies, genetically modified food technology needs to be closely monitored and evaluated as it progresses. Ultimately and unfortunately, genetically modified food technology has too much possible potential to be completely halted. One of the issues with GMOs is trying to tell the difference between Non­GMOS and the real ones; it is hard as labeling is not provided and we can never tell the difference when shopping at a grocery store, so we basically, in short, just never know what we’re eating. If we could not stop the proliferation­­rapid increase­­of
GMO, we should know why it is harmful to our health and how we can prevent it. GMOs are harmful to our health, and not putting labels is not making it any better, just worse environmentally, economically, and health­wise. Everyone needs to wake up and see that GMO labeling can shape and make better of the food industry.

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