Genetically+Modified+Food

=**__Organic and Genetically Modified Foods__**= = =

**What is Organic?**
What does Organic means? Any chemist would answer “Anything that contains carbon”. The food industry, defines an organic food as one that has not been sprayed or modified with chemicals. For instance, vegetables and fruits are considered to be GM if their owner had been spraying them with pesticides and fertilizers. The word “organic” is also applied to animal products, like meat and dairy items. In fact, most cows are given steroids, growth hormones and antibiotics that may affect the nature of their products. Although, these chemicals help produce larger and generally healthier livestock, there are many negative aspects to their usage.

**What are the benefits of Organic Foods?**
Misuse of antibiotics in humans has caused the development of antibiotic resistant bacteria. What some of us don’t know, however, is that the same problem is occurring among the world's population of livestock. **Did you know that approximately 70% of all antibiotics administered in the United States are actually given to livestock?** The more we give antibiotics to our livestock, the more they become less effective. Therefore, farmers must keep using a greater variety of these chemicals to protect their animals. One solution to this race is to simply stop using antibiotics, or at least highly control their usage. Organic foods are not produced using antibiotics, and thus help to reduce the trend of drug-resistant bacteria. It is also nice to know that these antibiotics (as well as steroids and hormones) are not passed on to the consumer in meat and dairy products.

Another benefit of organic foods is their high nutritional content. In some cases, organic fruits and vegetables may contain many vitamins, minerals, and nutrients that are lost when the crops are farmed in mass quantities or modified with various chemicals.

**Genetically Modified Foods (GMFs)**
Food that has been genetically modified is usually resistant to certain types of harmful fungi and/or insects, allowing a much greater yield of the crop. Currently the major concern about GMFs, is the possibility that the genes modified in one plant may be able to pass into other species that were never intended to be effected. This could have larger ecological effects which are nearly impossible to predict. In addition, the genetic modifications could also cause more immediate problems for certain people. For instance, allergens from specific plants could be placed into other plants, meaning that a person would never know if the corn or potatoes they were buying contain a gene from a peanut - something that many people are allergic to.

However, GMFs play a very essential role in our modern world, and it would be very hard to eliminate them completely. They also had some positive effects: the use of GMFs, for instance, has increased the yield of staple foods in many areas of the world, leading to healthier and stronger people. GMFs may also allow some foods to ripen more slowly, which means that they won't be rotten when they arrive in areas where people need food the most. Also, as a plus to the environment, GMFs require less pesticides and herbicides than regular non-GMF produce.

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 * So, what should we do? Keep producing GMFs or not?**

If you want to know American’s opinion about the topic click the link below… http://www.non-gmoreport.com/organic_foods_healthier.php

Page edited by: Giulia SERA

=**GM Products: Benefits and Controversies**=

=**Benefits**=


 * **Crops**
 * Enhanced taste and quality
 * Reduced maturation time
 * Increased nutrients, yields, and stress tolerance
 * Improved resistance to disease, pests, and herbicides
 * New products and growing techniques
 * **Animals**
 * Increased resistance, productivity, hardiness, and feed efficiency
 * Better yields of meat, eggs, and milk
 * Improved animal health and diagnostic methods
 * **Environment**
 * "Friendly" bioherbicides and bioinsecticides
 * Conservation of soil, water, and energy
 * Bioprocessing for forestry products
 * Better natural waste management
 * More efficient processing
 * **Society**
 * Increased food security for growing populations

=**Controversies**=

Alice Wang**
 * **Safety**
 * Potential human health impact: allergens, transfer of antibiotic resistance markers, unknown effects Potential environmental impact: unintended transfer of transgenes through cross-pollination, unknown effects on other organisms (e.g., soil microbes), and loss of flora and fauna biodiversity
 * **Access and Intellectual Property**
 * Domination of world food production by a few companies
 * Increasing dependence on Industralized nations by developing countries
 * Biopiracy—foreign exploitation of natural resources
 * **Ethics**
 * Violation of natural organisms' intrinsic values
 * Tampering with nature by mixing genes among species
 * Objections to consuming animal genes in plants and vice versa
 * Stress for animal
 * **Labeling**
 * Not mandatory in some countries (e.g., United States)
 * Mixing GM crops with non-GM confounds labeling attempts
 * **Society**
 * New advances may be skewed to interests of rich countries
 * http://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/elsi/gmfood.shtml

Genetically Engineered Food (GMO) GMO- Genetically Modified Organism

__Rising of the Genetic Era__
Timeline March 1986- the city council of St. Charles, just outside of St. Louis voted to oppose an outdoor genetic test at a farm beyond the city limits June 2nd of 1987- First outdoor test of a genetically engineered plant took place. Since 1991- The State of Michigan has spent about 20 million dollars just on delaying the arrival of the genetic era to the world’s least-developed countries. October 19th, 1992- the U.S. Department of Agriculture approved Petition No. 92-196-01P, which is allowing genetically engineered tomatoes to be sold in public. 1993- First genetically grown foods were commercialized 1996- The U.S. Department of Agriculture approved even more genetically engineered products to be commercialized l Since the release of the GMOs to the public market, the sales of the GMOs fallen steadily. 1994- A firm called a Monsanto Company was allowed to produce genetically engineered corns, potatoes, more tomatoes, cotton, squash, papaya and radicchio. 1996- American farmers planted 3.6 million acres, surpassing China. l In Canada, farmers planted about 300,000 acres with an herbicide-tolerant canola. 1999- Scientists in England found the gene that controls the height of plants 2000- More than 50 bioengineered crops were allowed in the United States. l Various GMOs were grown in 75 million acres of the 109.2 million planted globally. -> Twice of the entire land mass of Great Britain l Never exceeded 100 million acres before l The acreage of American soybeans sown in genetically engineered seed had increased to about 54% 2005- The spending of main five biotechnology firms in defending of GMOs reached 250 million dollars

Interesting Facts about Genetically engineered food (GMO) ü Genetically engineered tobaccos were already been tested ü Entering the new millennium, genetic research all covers plant science, food science and human biology ü Almost every processed food contains some kind of GMOs, including corn flakes, granola bars and even to the diet drinks. ü U.S. does not require firms to label the genetically engineered food ü European Union and other democratic nations do require firms to label GMOs. ü There’s a battle going on between people who support GMOs and the ones who do not. ü America’s biggest food companies demanded the U.S. Department of Agriculture to do a better job of regulating the technology. ü By the year 2020, another 10% of the world’s species of plants, animals, and microorganisms will become extinct as a result of deforestation, sprawling growth and genetic engineering of species. ü Increasing population vs. Threats exist in Genetically engineered foods

Quotes related to the GMOs “In a grocery, as much as 70^ of the processed food might contain GMOs”- A vice president of the Grocery Manufacturers of America “Genetically modified food is part of the fabric of American Life” – Gene Grabowski “Will we survive our technologies? We are being propelled into this new century with no plan, no control, no breaks” – Bill Joy, president of Sun Microsystems “Do you know why people fear DNA? Because criminals always leave it at the scene of a crime.” –Joke told by Monsanto scientist Stephen Rogers “Your scientists were so preoccupied with what they could that they didn’t stop to think whether they should – Ian Malcolm, in Jurassic Park; 1993 Source- Dinner At The New Gen Cafe written by Bill Lambrecht in 2001 (There is a stock in LMC) -Paul Lee