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The use of Genetic Engineering on plants, crops, and food has also created a great debate among scientists and citizens.
First, in terms of plants and crops, Genetic Engineering can cause widespread crop failure. When a farmer plants genetically engineered seeds, all the seeds have identical genetic structures. Thus if a fungus, pest, or virus grows which can attack this certain crop, there would be a widespread crop failure. The wind, insects, and plants can all carry genetically changed seeds onto close fields and land. Once normal plants produce pollen, they can cross polinate with the genetically engineered crops. Thus all crops, organic and non-organic, are threatened by contamination. Also, this contamination is different from other kinds of pollution because once the genes are out, they cannot be recalled. Genetic Engineering of plants and crops also use a promotes the use of hericide. Herbicides are known to be responsible for great illnesses in farm workers. Herbicides can also contaminate water supplies and kill all the weeds in a field, thus lowering biodiversity.
Also many genetically engineered crops have Bacillus thuringienis (Bt)-toxin genes on them. With this GE material, helpful organisms such as ladybirds, bees, and butterflies are killed. Also if any Bt plant remains fall back to Earth, earthworms and other organisms who live in the soil are threatened. Furthermore, the build up of Bt toxin resistance threatens to stop the effectiveness of insesticides and this deprives the natural ecosystem of one of its pest controls, thus making the restoration of equilibrium difficult after the ecosystem has been disturbed by an abnormality.
Thus do we want these harmful genetically engineered products in our food, as well as these products destroying our agricultural system. We certainly do not. Genetically engineered food has not been fully tested and it is harmful because it uses material from organisms that have never been part of the normal supply of human food. GE can also cause unknown mutations in an organism, which can cause food to contain higher toxins in it. People can also have allergic reactions to genetically engineered food.
Many steps gave been taken to try to stop the distribution of genetically engineered food, but it simply is not enough. Recently, on May 3rd, 2000, the Federal Government and the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) announced new guidelines for the manufacturers of genetically modified foods. The new guidelines include a mandatory system in which the FDA must be notified about GM (Genetically Modified) foods and a voluntary system for labeling foods already in stores. This voluntary system angers many environmental and food safety groups because they do not think that it is good enough. They believe that it is necessary for all food distributors to notify customers when they are buying GM food. Andrew Kimbrall of the Center for Food Safety said of the new regulations, "FDA has announced a new policy which is really their old policy. You notify us you?re going to put the food on the market, but we're not going to require safety testing, we're not going to require labeling, and so you can go ahead, and the consumer will still not have a choice to avoid these foods if they want to." The FDA argues that all tested GM food was found to be as safe as the original food. But how is the FDA certain?
Today, over 70 % of all food on grocery store shelves is genetically modified. Popular foods such as Doritos and Bugles are just a few of the GM foods. Many critics have labeled GM foods as "Frankenfood." Should there be madatory labeling? I believe that this must be done in order to ensure the safety of people. It may be beneficial in cost to use GM foods. But if people begin to die, it certainly will not be worth it
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