Why Should We Worry about GMOs?

I first got concerned about the food I ate after watching the documentary film, Food Inc.. The movie shows the dark underbelly of the modern food industry as well as the human lives that it is meant to sustain.  According to the USDA, 93% of soy, 93% of cotton, and 86% of corn grown in the U.S. were GMO in 2009.  It seems like everything in store contains genetically modified soy and corn.  GMO foods are pervasive in the US, yet people still do not know about the safety and long-term effects of GMO foods.

Over the past 20 years, the food we consumed has gone from whole food form to undergoing a scientific experiment.  There are two main kinds of GE crops, one of them is the herbicide tolerant crops.  Herbicide tolerant crops are those crops whose growth are not affected by herbicides used on the weeds growing around them. Glyphosate is the substance in many herbicides, including the well-known formulation, Roundup.  Crops specifically engineered to be tolerant to glyphosate are known as "Roundup Ready" (RR).  Glyphosate is popular for weed control because it kills all vegetation.  RR crops causing the increased use of glyphosate because farmers spray over the top of the crops.  Companies that produce glyphosate-herbicides claims that they causes no harm to human, however, researches have found different results.  Animals suffered from consuming RR crops.  Russian National Academy of Sciences reported that "more than half the babies from mother rats fed RR soy died within three weeks"(Smith), which was 5 times higher than the normal 10% death rate.  In addition to that, They also found that, "The babies in the GM group were also smaller and could not reproduce" (Smith).  These RR crops people consumed on daily basis can create serious health risks.  In a 2011 report produced by Greenpeace, a non-profit environmental organization founded in 1971, concludes that, "Exposure of humans to glyphosate has been linked to various health effects, including reproductive effects, cancer and neurological effects" (Riley, Cotter & Contiero 38).    Illnesses that were not epidemic before are now epidemic, people are getting sicker throughout the past 20 years.

The size of the baby rats in GM-soy group have significantly smaller body size.

Agencies such as FDA, USDA, and EPA should be responsible for food security and production.  The government should conduct careful independent research without the influences of biotech companies such as Monsanto and Dupont.  GMOs should not be sold on market until people fully understand the possible adverse effects.  

Work Cited

Riley, Pete, Janet Cotter, and Marco Conteiro. Herbicide tolerance and GM crops - Why the world should be Ready to Round Up glyphosate. Rep. June 2011. Greenpeace. 21 June 2013. <http://www.greenpeace.org/international/Global/international/publications/agriculture/2011/363%20-%20GlyphoReportDEF-LR.pdf>.

Smith, Jeffrey. "Genetically Modified Soy Linked to Sterility, Infant Mortality in Hamsters." The Huffington Post 20 Apr. 2010. 21 June 2013. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeffrey-smith/genetically-modified-soy_b_544575.html>.