I promised this explanation a while ago – better late than never…
This is why I eat organic whenever I can, and why I have a problem with genetically modified foods. Genetically modified foods are food crops modified in a lab at the molecular level to enhance desireable traits, such as resistance to pesticides.
Here are the two most common arguments I’ve seen in favour of GM foods (tell me if I’m missing another biggie):
1) GM foods lead to higher crop yields
2) GM foods can prevent deaths from malnutrition
Here’s the other side:
1) Sometimes – not always. Some GM crops lead to higher yields – at best temporarily (see ‘Biodiversity’ below). Others are actually producing less than conventional varieties. This has led to class-action suits by some farmers against biotech companies for misrepresenting their product.
2) Biotech/GM companies spend a lot of time hyping up the idea that there isn’t enough food to go around on this planet – so clearly we need to increase food production.
False. Most countries suffering from malnutrition are acutally exporting their food away – to us, “developed” nations. Why? Because they are heavily in debt. For instance, Brazil sells 85% of their grain and beans for livestock feed in North America, Europe and Asia.
Bankers, such as World Bank, International Monetary Fund and Inter-American Development Bank, “won’t fund anti-hunger initiatives [in these countries] linked to agrarian or economic reforms that encourage production for the domestic market. That might upset the prospects of earning foreign currency to pay off debt.” (NOW Magazine, April 1-7 2004) Most food shortages aren’t related to food production ability, but to political and social causes.
Besides which, most of the traits biotechnology companies are breeding into foods have nothing to do with increased nutritional value. These are companies and they are trying to turn a profit. Developments are heavily concentrated on GM development for processed foods and livestock feed -> products almost exclusively consumed by wealthier countries.
Other key points:
Economics: Organic food is much more expensive, right? Only because you’re paying the actual cost. In 1988, taxpayers paid nearly $74 billion in federal subsidies for conventional foods. Other hidden costs: pesticide regulation and testing, hazardous waste disposal and clean up, and environmental damage. (GEO)
Energy: ‘Modern’ farms (not-organic) use more petroleum than any other single industry – 12% of the US’s total energy supply. “More energy is now used to produce synthetic fertilizers than to till, cultivate, and harvest all the crops in the US.”(GEO)
Chemical and Carcinogens: “Now the EPA considers that 60% of all herbicides, 90% of all fungicides and 30% insecticides are carcinogenic.” Tasty. (GEO)
Package Deal: GM crops are often sold as a package – you buy the crop, and you buy the (expensive) pesticide it’s bred to be resistant to. For example, this holds farmers hostage to buy Monsanto crops with Monsanto pesticides.
Biodiversity: What happens when you plant just one kind of potato? It’s arrogant, ignorant and irresponsible to have absolute faith in our technology – especially when it’s so unproven. Besides the vulnerability of the ‘one key-one lock’ pesticide-to-crop design, planting large crops of just one kind of crop year after year destroys the soil. “While this approach tripled farm production between 1950 and 1970, the lack of natural diversity of plant life has left the soil lacking in natural minerals and nutrients. To replace the nutrients, chemical fertilizers are used, often in increasing amounts.” (GEO)
The Environment: Pesticides, those that the genetically engineered crops are bred to be compatible with, contaminate ground water. We don’t even know for sure the extent of the impact on our ecosystems. But what we know isn’t good. Farms don’t operate in a bubble – they leak pesticides down to the ground water, crop pollen blows away with the wind, and insecticides can’t discriminate what ‘pests’ they’ll wipe out. One side-effect of this unfortunate lack of bubble-farming is “Gene transfer to non-target species”. This is a really good one. Crop plants engineered to resist herbicides can cross-breed with the weeds the herbicides are designed to kill. Then these “superweeds” are herbicide tolerant as well. (GM Foods For and Against) The suggested solution? Create buffer zones around GM crops of 6 to 30 metres or more, or make GM plants sterile, or plant non-GM crops around the GM crops and use those crops as a decoy for insect pests to destroy. We would of course not be able to harvest those ‘decoy crops’. Yes, that all makes perfect sense. Obviously a much more efficient system.
Taste: Buy an organic orange and a “regular” orange. Come back, and tell me whatcha think…