The Rant

Genetically modified foods have become a necessity in today's world and their use should not even be questioned. Many years ago, we could have maybe stopped and thought about whether we wanted to use Genetically Modified foods or not, but we don't even have a choice today. The population is growing the the arable land shrinking, both at extremely fast rates and unless someone comes up with an amazing solution soon, genetically modified foods are our only option. So many people around the world are going hungry. GM foods could fix that with an increased yeild for the third world and also a reduced price becasue they are more efficiently and readily made. Even poor farmers could thrive off these new plants because they woul be perfectly accustomed to their area and would therefore be much more reliable. With a limited amount of land we can't really even grow crops that are unreliable anymore. Rather than losing whole fields to drought, frost, bugs, or pesticides, why not just use plants that are resistant to all of these. They pose no health risks and can only bring about benefits. Lastly, one of the most important aspects of GM foods is how much we rely on them, whether we know it or not. We would never be able to pull out of using GM crops now. To do so, we would have to eliminate about 75% of our foods on grocery store shelves. Also, a large percent of field would have to be wiped out and started over with not genetically altered plants. However, even then, it would be extremely difficult to entirely rid our country or the world from Genetically modified plants. They have embedded themselves into our culture through passing their genes to close relatives, being used medically, and most importantly decreasing the demand for food. Genetically modified foods are not something we can just call back. People have to learn to accept that they are now a part of our diet, culture, and lives.

What the experts say

One of the most important uses of GM foods is to increase the yield of foods and be able to provide it to third world countries at an inexpensive and superfluous rate. "People with no food have a right to food, and life is always paramount, and if the people on the ground are saying give us anything, then they should be given anything," Helen Palmer of Oxfam, a group of non-governmental organizations from three continents working worldwide to fight poverty and injustice, argues concerning other countries' rejection of US food aid because it was genetically modified. In response to the statistics showing how many people go hungry and how the population is supposed to increase, Monsato, the creator of one of the biggest bio-tech crops called round-up ready crops, and an obvious supporter of genetically engineering foods, asserted "We know this means that agricultural output and production needs to increase by 70%. And so how do we do that? Clearly dumping more chemicals on the ground isn't the answer. I don't think many people would agree that slashing and burning the remaining rain forests is a very good approach. Frankly; biotech is not the Holy Grail either, but it has demonstrated its ability to increase yield and reduce chemicals." Because genetically engineered foods have been proven to increase yield, reduce the amount of herbicide and pesticide used, and provide more nutrition, but have not been scientifically proven to hurt humans, the potential benefits are stronger than the risks. In other words, "These 'certain promises' of this revolutionary technology far outweighed its 'uncertain peril,'" claims James Watson , who along with Francis Crick, had first described the structure of the DNA helix in 1953.

Second Strongest Argument

GM foods can improve nutrition or medicine for millions. Foods can be bioengineered to deliver important nutrients or drugs which could prove to be a less expensive and more practical way to fight malnutrition and disease on a global scale. Some foods have been modified to produce drugs, vaccines, and industrial chemicals or to suppply critical micronutrients such as vitamins, iron, and iodine in foods such as milk, bread, and cereal. For example, scientists at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology created a type of rice that produces the nutrient beta-carotene. Called "golden rice" it could prevent blindness in half a million to three million poor children a year. In some cases, genetically engineered foods produce medical needs that be be attained by no othe means. For instance, if it weren't for Genetically modified organisms, we wouldn't have have life-saving human insulin for Type 1 diabetics.

Strongest Argument

Genetically Engineered foods are becoming a necessity in today's modern world. There are nearly 800 millioon people in the world that do not have enough food to eat, according to the United Nation's Food and Agricultural Organization, and over the next 40 years, the global population is expected to double in size. With the rising population, we willl need more housing which means that more land is going to be used for construction of living space. This means less land is going to be available for agriculture which means that we can not put any land to waste and that we must be able to produce enough crops in the little land that we do have. This can only be accomplished through the use of genetically engineered foods. Genetically engineered foods can produce a greater yeild, and are definitely more reliable because they can be engineered to be pesticide or herbicide resistant.

Choosing a Side

I intend to argue the pro side of the argument concerning Genetically engineered foods. I have selected this position because, not only do I agree with this position, but there is a lot more information coming from the pro side and it would be a lot easier to convince my reader to agree with the pro position. Also, agreeing with the position will make it a lot easier to write because you can somewhat speak from your own perspective rather than relying solely on facts and kind of arguing against yourself. My strongest arguments will probably be concerning the fact that we live in a modern world and now need aid in medical fields, third world countries, and even on the food shelves at the grocery store. With the change of times, people are building on every inch of land possible and we don't have the time or the chance to risk acres of crops that may or may not grow. Genetically modified crops can certify their survival, and can secure food means for people around the world. Also, genetically engineered foods can even produce medicine or certain medical needs that can't be gained by any other means. I intend to convince my readers into agreeing with my position by explaining the importance and necessity of genetically engineered foods and combating any pressing cons that could cause them to stray from the pro side. My concerns about not being able to effectively argue this position is that some of the arguments against this position are very strong and will be hard to combat. There have been tests to prove that that GM foods do pose a threat to the environment and human health, and these will be hard to argue or have some thing to come back with.

CON: The risks of Genetically Engineered foods are too great to be used

Genetically engineered foods can have a negative influence on the environment. These impacts can be long-term affects on other crops or species and the environment. Many GM foods have been engineered to produce their own pesticide, however, this food can harm other harmless insects that are not pests for that plant. For example, monarch butterflies and caterpillars have died after coming in contact with pollen from genetically engineered corn. Another threat to the environment is that genes that have been put into crops could spread to wild relatives of those crops. This can create unintended result and potentially create herbicide-resistant weeds or "super weeds" that can't be controlled. The reason GM foods are such an environmental threat is because they are living organisms and once they get out into the environment, they cannot be recalled, which causes an unlimited amount of environmental surprises. Also, there have been tests done which prove that certain GM foods can have effects on the brain and human organs. Many scientists say that the risk is too great to rely solely on these foods because, all though we may not see many detrimental affects now, side affects in the future can be life-threatening. Also, in order to change genes and make a food more nutrients, scientist have to change the proteins of foods. Because proteins often cause allergic reactions, changing proteins can elicit a harmful allergen to many people that wouldn't have been in the food before.

PRO: The benefits of Genetically Engineered foods greatly outweigh the risks and should be relied on

Before genetically modified foods, new and possibly needed genes could only be produced through cross-breeding. However this was a time-consuming and inexact process of cross-breeding species that had to be pretty closely related. However, years of this were needed to eliminate unwanted genes and to uncover the needed ones. Now, with genetic modification of foods, this process is a lot more efficient and more precise. Biologists can take a single gene from any organism and splice it into the DNA of another, whether it be a fish gene into a strawberry or a frog gene into a tomato. In this way, biologists can choose genes to splice into their crop that can make them pesticide or herbicide-resistant, frost resistant, or even enable them to produce more nutrients in a lot less time than it would take to cross-breed and get that same result. This ultimately creates a larger yield and a more reliable food source. With a continuous food supply, we are able to provide food for third world countries and save many families from malnutrition and blindness caused by hunger and poverty. Also, GM foods can produce medical needs that are not able to be made by any other means and can save lives from being taken by life-threatening diseases. Genetically modified foods are even good for the environment. With pesticide-resistant genes, less pesticides have to be used on those crops, and therefore less earth deterioration because farmers do not have to till the soil as often.