The GMO Debate

A few times, I’ve been asked what I think about GMOs. It’s hard to form a concrete opinion on them because in terms of their environmental and human health impact, there aren’t many concrete findings, unlike with a plant-based diet.

Here are the basics:

•   GMOs stand for “Genetically Modified Organisms”
•   GMOs are crops that have been modified by inserting or deleting a particular gene to produce plants, animals, and microorganisms that have desirable traits.
• Humans have been modifying crops for about 8,000 years before the introduction of “genes” from selecting which plants to plant. Traditionally, farmers chose the plants from the wild that were most resistant to pests, disease, and changing weather patterns.
•  GMOs and what you might call “traditional” farming methods result in plants that would not exist without human interference.
•   As of 2012, 170 million hectares of land are planted with GMOs from 28 different countries.
•  Most of the GMOs being planted in the U.S. (the largest planter of GMOs) are corn and soy used for animal consumption (yet another reason to support a vegan lifestyle!)

Here are some risks:

•  Genes may cross into species that are not meant to be modified in such a way, like herbicide-resistant weeds.
• They could threaten biodiversity by competing or breeding with wild species.
• They may harm birds, insects, or other innocent species that may consume them.
•  There is a risk that allergy-producing genes will be inserted into unrelated stuff like genes from a peanut being inserted into a tomato.
•  Small-scale farmers are often overstepped by the dominance of a few large seed companies.

 Here are some benefits:

•  GMOs are more resistant to pests, disease, and severe weather than non-GMOs, so it decreases the risk of complete crop failure.
•  GMOs have a longer shelf life so they can by transported farther distances without spoiling.
•  GMOs could reduce the need to use pesticides and other chemicals, which may harm the environment and the farmer.

Overall, I don’t think going out of our way to avoid GMOs is really the most efficient economically, or helpful in terms of environmental protection, health benefits, or ethics.

I think the best way to at the least limit your GMO intake and take care of your health, environment, and ethics is to adopt a whole foods plant based diet. This means eating plants that are as close to their grown form as possible.

That way, you’ll avoid the GMOs that are fed to animals, since the majority of GMOs grown in the world are soy and corn used for animal feed. From my searching on the inter-webs, it seems that GMO-free foods aren’t necessarily healthy since there can be GMO-free cookies and candy. It seems to me that, health wise it’s better to buy a possible GMO apple than a GMO-free candy bar.

Environmentally, GMOs aren’t that good as mentioned by the cons above. Relatively speaking however, I think a vegan diet has a far greater positive impact on the environment than simply avoiding GMOs.

If we eat one less pound of beef a year, we save the same amount of water as we would as not showering for six months. By choosing a plant-based diet, we are also voting with our dollar to reduce the amount of land used for GMO animal feed and animals by eliminating animal products. This is significant since animal feed and farmed animals currently account for the loss of 30% of earth’s usable land mass. I don’t think choosing GMO-free is as far reaching as choosing veganism or as empowering!

And ethically speaking, GMO free foods say nothing about the way animals are being treated. It’s guaranteed to be at least somewhat humane by simply skiping the whole killing process altogether.

In conclusion, I think you can be a super healthy ethical environmentalist by being vegan without having to feel like you have to spend the extra bucks for GMO-free foods. If you can buy GMOs and it’s not that expensive, then definitely go for it! But if not, it’s still super to just go vegan/vegetarian!

Work Cited

Henning, B. (2011). Standing in livestock's long shadow: The ethics of eating meat on a small planet. Ethics and the environment, 16(2), 63. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com/ps/retrieve.do?sgHitCountType=None&sort=DA- SORT&inPS=true&prodId=AONE&userGroupName=vol_b92b&tabID=T002&searchId=R1&re sultistType=RESULT_LIST&contentSegment=&searchType=AdvancedSearchForm&currentPos ition=1&contentSet=GALE|A271975593&&docId=GALE|A271975593&docType=GALE&role =

McClean, Margrate R. "The Future of Food: An Introduction to the Ethical Issues in Genetically Modified Foods." The Future of Food: Lethal and ethical changes. Santa Clara University. California, Santa Clara. 15 Apr 2005. Lecture. http://www.scu.edu/ethics/practicing/focusareas/medical/conference/presentations/genetically-modified-foods.html

Top ten facts about biotech/gm crops in 2012 a new overview of biotech crops in 2012. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.isaaa.org/resources/publications/briefs/44/infographic/default.asp

Woolf, A., Cheney, I., Ellis, C., & Miller, J. (2007). King corn [DVD].