GMO is Not the Way to Go

GMO has been touted by companies like Monsanto as safe and cost-effective, providing food solutions for millions of people in developed and under-developed countries. However, new research indicates GMO foods may not be as safe as believed. Laws like the GMO food labeling bill passed in 2016 allow consumers to be informed in what ingredients comprise their favorite food products. Why? Because GMO foods are not healthy. Thesis: Studies show the deleterious effects of long-term exposure to GMO foods especially foods that contain the weed killer, Roundup and yet Monsanto refuses to state the truth and in fact, lobbies to change labeling brought on by the food-labeling bill going on its end-stage summer, 2018.
Problems: Overview
The GMO food labeling bill, which requires final rules by July 29, 2018 may allow companies to place QR codes rather than clear, on-package labeling, decreasing label efficacy and preventing millions of Americans from becoming informed on food purchases. All because companies like Monsanto want to perpetuate the belief that GMO foods are a good choice for any consumer. GMO foods are not safe, especially if they have traces of Roundup on them. Yet, Monsanto aims to develop herbicide resistant crops to increase yield and reduce weed control expense. “In particular, herbicide resistance in a susceptible monocot such as maize may provide increased flexibility in weed control by allowing postemergence control of weeds that exceed acceptable population levels following cultivation” (Duke, 2018, p. 113).
GMO foods pose a very real health threat. It may not be just because of the crops grown, but rather the herbicides continually sprayed on them like Roundup that has been proven to have negative health effects on organisms.
Roundup was more toxic than glyphosate with negative effects on survival, behaviour and most of the physiological traits being present at lower concentrations (food intake, escape swimming speed) or even only present (survival, sugar and total energy content and muscle mass) following Roundup exposure (Janssens & Stoks, 2017, p. 210).
The evidence exists detailing how Roundup and other herbicides can have a negative effect on behavior and health. Nevertheless, Monsanto aims to make herbicide-resistant crops to continue using such toxic and harmful chemicals.
Problem # 1 GMO and Labeling
France and Japan have banned the growing of GMO crops alongside other countries like Switzerland, Madeira, Ireland, and New Zealand. While Japan imports GMO canola, it still maintains a strict stance on most other GMO crops. Other countries require at least GE labeling with Austria being the strictest. “Austria (whose citizens voted in a nation-wide referendum in the mid-1990s to ban GMO crops) has the most extensive and comprehensive ban with four varieties of GM rapeseed and one GM corn prohibited” (Howlett & Laycock, 2013, p. 132).
The United States tried to join the GMO labeling effort through the 2016 GMO food labeling bill. However, the potential use of QR codes could offset that. QR codes can only be scanned with mobile phones that have access to the internet and have the app installed to collect the information from the code. Rural areas and areas where people cannot afford smart phones will not see if a food product has GMO ingredients at all (Ecowatch, 2018). Nefarious practices like this could set back the effort to inform the American public of GMOs in their foods.
Problem #2 Monsanto
Monsanto is a major problem in the fight against GMO. Monsanto lobbyists have existed for decades championing for products that can have a negative effect on health. One such issue was rBST. The lobbyists were fighting then in the late 1990’s for it safety and efficacy (Derber, 2014). Now they are fighting against farmers who want their milk to be rBST free. This is in combination with hiring former government senators to lobby for them regarding GMO labeling and use of herbicides. “Lincoln, a Democrat from Arkansas who left the Senate in 2011 after losing her reelection bid, announced in July that she was launching her own lobbying group. Scoring Lincoln as lobbyist is a boon for Monsanto, world’s largest seed company” (Sheppard, 2013).
Monsanto is a giant that is looking to control the United States food supply through its increase funding into lobbyists and research to show GMO foods are safe and effective (Derber, 2014). They have a lot of political influence. They are a well-established and highly profitable company. If the United States wants any potential improvement in food quality, they are the ones that must be overthrown.
Problem # 3 Food Quality
Thanks to the use of GMO foods in the United States and the growing of GMO crops, food quality for Americans have diminished (Shetterly, 2016). While there are organic and grass-fed options for American consumers, these foods often come at a higher price that many Americans cannot afford on a regular basis (Shetterly, 2016). Basic foods like potatoes, rice, corn, and canola oil when they are GMO are very cost-effective yet do little in terms of providing nutrition for the impoverished Americans that buy them. Because these GMO crops are so inexpensive they are also used greatly in cheap, processed foods that not only appeal to adults on a budget, but children (Shetterly, 2016).
These low-quality foods can have a deleterious effect on human health as seen in a Food Safety News article placing the United States as 21st in world food systems. United States came at that rank despite ‘high food quality’ because of the high obesity and diabetes rates in the country (FoodSafety, 2014). The reason U.S. even placed 21st was due to ‘affordability of food’. Affordability of food is largely due to the continued presence of subsidized farming. Many of the crops that are subsidized are GMO crops like cotton, soybeans, and corn (Friedland, Relyea, & Courard-Hauri, 2012). Farmers unable to subsist on other crops are forced to farm these crops or risk poverty.
Summary and Promise for a Solution
GMO foods are a permanent problem in the United States. Companies like Monsanto will continue to lobby for their right to spray known hazardous herbicides on seeds and crops and even create herbicide resistant crops that continue their practices. Their lobbying has even affected the potential labeling of GMO foods in America. If QR codes are used as labels, people will have to own a smart phone with access to the internet to scan the product code at the store and determine if it contains GMO ingredients or is a GMO product. This is not the case for other countries. Many countries are against importing or growing GMO crops with Austria being the strictest. References
Derber, C. (2014). Corporation nation: How corporations are taking over our lives and what we can do about it. St. Martin's Press.
Duke, S. O. (2018). Herbicide-Resistant Crops: Agricultural, Economic, Environmental, Regulatory, and Technological Aspects. Milton: CRC Press.
Ecowatch. (2018, May 4). Proposed GMO Food Labeling Could Leave 100 Million Americans in the Dark. Retrieved from https://www.ecowatch.com/gmo-food-labels-qr-codes-2565811298.amp.html
FoodSafety. (2014, January 15). U.S. Places 21st in Ranking of World Food Systems | Food Safety News. Retrieved from http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2014/01/u-s-places-21st-in-ranking-of-world-food-systems/
Friedland, A. J., Relyea, R., & Courard-Hauri, D. (2012). Essentials of environmental science. New York: W.H. Freeman and Company.
Howlett, M., & Laycock, D. (2013). Regulating Next Generation Agri-Food Biotechnologies: Lessons from European, North American and Asian Experiences. Florence: Taylor and Francis.
Janssens, L., & Stoks, R. (2017). Stronger effects of Roundup than its active ingredient glyphosate in damselfly larvae. Aquatic Toxicology, 193, 210-216. doi:10.1016/j.aquatox.2017.10.028
Sheppard, K. (2013, October 17). Monsanto Hires Former Senator As Lobbyist. Retrieved from https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/16/monsanto-blanche-lincoln-_n_4110750.html
Shetterly, C. (2016). Modified: GMOs and the threat to our food, our land, our future. Penguin.
The solution for this kind of issue lies in the removal of lobbyists for companies like Monsanto. The American government is responsible for the health and wellbeing of the public. If companies are allowed to do what they want to increase their profits, through lobbying of laws that benefit them and not the American public, this creates a potential problem across the board.