Benefits of Eating Genetrically Modified Foods. Benefits of Eathing Organically Grown Foods.

Date:   6/15/2008 7:25:07 PM ( 16 y ago)

5:22 PM
June 15, 08


Here are some of the benefits of Eating Genetically Modified Foods:


http://www.geneticsandhealth.com/2005/07/26/genetically-modified-food-pros-an...

Genetically Modified Food: Pros and Cons

by HSIEN HSIEN LEI, PHD on July 26th, 2005
A few years ago, I was invited to give a talk at the English Salon, a weekly seminar series sponsored by the YWCA Language School in Nagoya, Japan. My topic was genetically modified (GM) food and my stance was distinctly supportive. (Don’t start throwing the rotten tomatoes now!) Despite my hour-and-a-half long presentation, I was unable to convince most of the audience that GM foods were safe to eat and had many environmental benefits as well.

GM food seems relatively benign if it’s the result of cross-breeding two organisms of the same species, such as crossing strawberry plants with a deeper red color with those that have larger fruit. The type of genetic modification that causes the greatest ire amongst consumers and activists, however, is when genes from two totally unrelated organisms are combined. For example, “Roundup Ready” soybean crops have been genetically engineered to carry a gene from a bacteria that is resistant to Roundup, a weed killer. When Roundup is sprayed on these crops, every plant in the vicinity dies except the soybeans.

Sounds frightening and unnatural, but consider the positive effects genetically modified crops would have on health, farming methods, and the environment. Current and future GM products include:

Food that can deliver vaccines - bananas that produce hepatitis B vaccine
More nutritious foods - rice with increased iron and vitamins
Faster growing fish, fruit and nut trees
Plants producing new plastics
Jonathan Rauch wrote in The Atlantic Monthly,

Recall that world food output will need to at least double and possibly triple over the next several decades. Even if production could be increased that much using conventional technology, which is doubtful, the required amounts of pesticide and fertilizer and other polluting chemicals would be immense. If properly developed, disseminated, and used, genetically modified crops might well be the best hope the planet has got.

The Human Genome Project summarizes the controversies surrounding GM foods:

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
Domination of world food production by a few companies
Increasing dependence on Industralized nations by developing countries
Biopiracy - foreign exploitation of natural resources
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
New advances may be skewed to interests of rich countries
There’s no doubt that the GM food supply should be closely monitored and regulated, but that doesn’t mean it should all be banned. I believe that genetic engineering of plants, animals, and humans has much to offer as long as we are aware of potential benefits and side effects. And that’s true even for more traditional methods of farming, animal husbandry, and medicine.

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Here are some of the benefits of eating organic foods:

http://organic-center.org/about.join.html




Eating organic foods benefits our personal health by:
Lowering the incidence of neurodevelopmental problems in children, perhaps including ADHD and autism. Abnormal neurodevelopment in children can be caused or made worse by pre-natal and early life exposures to pesticides and chemicals that contaminate our food.
Lowering the number of pre-term deliveries each year. Prematurity is now an epidemic in the United States, affecting up to 1 in 8 babies. It is a leading cause of developmental problems, and death, in babies.
Virtually eliminating dietary exposures to insecticides known to be developmental neurotoxins, based on the compelling findings reported in two University of Washington studies involving school-age children.
Reducing unwanted interference with our sex hormones, which should reduce the prevalence of erectile dysfunction, the number of people suffering from loss of sexua| drive, and reduce a host of estrogen-related health problems.
If we grow organic food consumption to reach 10% of the national food supply by 2010, we will...
Eliminate pesticides from about 98 million servings of drinking water per day across the U.S. population.
Assure 20 million servings of milk per day are produced without antibiotics & genetically modified growth hormones.
Assure 53 million servings of fruits and vegetables each day are free of pesticide residues. (Enough to give 10 million kids five servings of fruit and vegetables each day.)



 

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