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Point: The Many Benefits of Genetically Modified Foods. By: Pearson, John, Points of View: Genetically Modified Foods, 6/1/2018
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Point: The Many Benefits of Genetically Modified Foods
Contents
1. A Second Green Revolution
2. History of Genetically Modified (GM) Crops
3. Breaking Political Resistance to GM Crops
4. GM Crops and International Trade
5. Worldwide Support for GM Foods
6. Environmental Benefits of Growing GM Crops
7. The Future of GM Foods
8. Ponder This:
9. Bibliography
10. Books
11. Websites
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Thesis: The use of biotechnology to genetically enhance food crops is simply a more efficient extension of crossbreeding and grafting techniques that have been used for thousands of years to produce improved strains of crops.
Summary: The use of biotechnology to genetically enhance food crops is simply a more efficient extension of crossbreeding and grafting techniques that have been used for thousands of years to produce improved strains of crops. With the rapid advances of genetic engineering at the end of the twentieth century, it is now possible to produce seed crops that not only have improved taste and nutrition, but also that resist pests, disease, drought and flood. This reduces the need for pesticides and fertilizers, and allows for low tillage farming that protects the environment by preserving topsoil and water resources. Particularly in developing countries where current crops often fail, such technology could dramatically increase yields, helping to alleviate hunger and disease among populations now living in poverty.
A Second Green Revolution
There is an unfortunate disparity in the world at the turn of the twenty-first
century: while population growth continues to soar in developing countries, the amount of farmland worldwide is shrinking. Reasons for the loss of farmland include the depletion of soils due to poor farming practices and encroachment of development to meet the demands of expanding cities and towns.
There was a burst of food production from 1950 to 1970, as new equipment and chemicals (pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers) became widely available to farmers in developed countries. However, increasing gains in food production brought about by this "green revolution" in farm technology were largely exhausted by 1980. In contrast, world population has continued to skyrocket, and is expected to expand by another 50 percent in the next 50 years.
If left unchecked, this trend of shrinking food resources and growing population will exacerbate the staggering problems of hunger and malnourishment that have caused an estimated 300 million deaths worldwide since 1970.
However, the application of modern genetic science to crop breeding could dramatically change this equation. The potential for increased yields exists only in the West, but even more so in developing countries, many of which cannot afford to import food and may not have the infrastructure or government support necessary to effectively distribute humanitarian food aid. This revolution in the makeup of seeds themselves could create a new green revolution for developing countries that were unable to take advantage of previous technological advances, either
due to the expense of modern farming equipment or simply because crops were not hardy enough to endure tough local growing conditions.
History of Genetically Modified (GM) Crops
In 1995, the Monsanto Corporation gained approval for pest-resistant cotton and potatoes, and for soybeans designed to be treated with a specific herbicide. Farmers immediately saw the benefits from these crops during the 1996 and 1997 growing seasons. In 1998, a newly introduced Monsanto herbicide-friendly seed corn quickly sold out before the growing season began. By 2003, more than 70 percent of cotton and soybeans and about 34 percent of corn planted in the US were of GM varieties. The disproportionate amount of soybean acreage reflects the relatively high susceptibility of soybeans to incursion from broadleaf weeds.
Fruit crops have also benefited from genetic advances, particularly in longer shelf life. This characteristic would again be of particular benefit to developing countries with limited storage and transportation options. As it stands today, even after a good harvest, the crop often spoils before it can be eaten in such areas.
Breaking Political Resistance to GM Crops
While reaction to GM crops was overwhelming positive among American
farmers and generally made little splash among American consumers, the European community was quick to raise questions about food safety. Europe is the world's largest importer of agricultural products, along with Japan, and both officials and consumers in Europe were already concerned about food supplies due to the outbreak of mad cow disease that hit Britain in the mid-1980s.
Today, the majority of corn products sold in the US are made from genetically modified grain. This trend of GM crops taking over their respective markets due to their superior quality and the simple fact that Americans have consumed so many such products, without reporting any ill effects, is beginning to break down resistance among consumers from the traditional grain-importing countries. A 2002 survey of British consumers showed the percentage unconcerned about labeling of GM food sources had increased by 12 percent from 2000 results, up to 41 percent.
GM Crops and International Trade
In May 2003, the US government called for open trade in GM crops, filing a complaint with the World Trade Organization accusing the European Union (EU) of unfairly restricting imports of GM grain. The US complaint challenged the EU to show scientific evidence of harm from GM crops and called strict farm-to-fork tracking of GM foods, including specific consumer labeling, unnecessary.
Some critics also see the new crops as an example of corporate hegemony over
world agricultural production, as GM crops have mainly been engineered by large multinational corporations. This political argument against the introduction of GM crops in areas such as Africa could be nullified by the creation of corporate partnerships with local farmers and governments to develop new seeds. International groups such as the World Bank and other non-profit organizations could take a role in distributing the seeds in poor countries.
This private-public partnership is now coming to pass with golden rice -- a variety of rice that was developed with funding from the EU, the Swiss government, the Rockefeller Foundation, and drug maker AstraZeneca. The rice contains beta-carotene, which the human body converts to vitamin-A. In the poorest areas of Asia, vitamin-A deficiency is related to death or blindness among more than one million children annually.
Worldwide Support for GM Foods
Many of the countries that could most benefit from GM crops have little influence in the court of world opinion. One notable exception was seen in a 2000 Washington Post editorial by Hassan Adamu, Nigeria's minister of agricultural and rural development. Adamu quoted African scientist Florence Wambugu, writing that "in Africa, GM food could almost literally weed out poverty." Adamu went on to point out that while more affluent countries have the luxury of arguing the finer points of food production, many African countries
face poor growing conditions that thwart any attempts to grow traditional crops.
Many respected international organizations have come out in support of GM foods. The World Health Organization (WHO) said that GM crops are "making major improvements in both food quality and nutrition." The United Nations' Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) reported that GM crops could help the continent move toward sustainable development and cited the success of GM corn and cotton crops in South Africa and Egypt.
A 2000 American Medical Association (AMA) report discounted the danger of GM foods, saying that the risks associated with such crops are not substantially different than those produced by traditional breeding methods. The report recommended that regulation of crops be guided by the plant itself -- its characteristics and use -- not by breeding techniques. It went on to say that special labeling of foods made from GM crops was scientifically unjustified.
Ismail Serageldin, speaking on behalf of the World Bank, called the use of GM crops "crucial" to developing countries in the twenty-first century. He said such crops "could be a tremendous help in meeting the challenge of feeding an additional three billion human beings, 95 percent of them in the poor developing countries, on the same amount of land and water currently available."
Environmental Benefits of Growing GM Crops
The use of GM crops has already had a substantial positive impact on the environment in the US. A National Center for Food and Agricultural Policy study estimates a total reduction in pesticide use of 46 million pounds in 2001, thanks to GM crops.
In developing countries, efforts to meet the growing demand for food will probably result in further exhaustion of existing farmland, leading farmers to cut down more forest acreage in a search for fertile soils. GM crops offer an alternative to this environmental catastrophe by providing increased yields from existing farmlands.
The Future of GM Foods
GM foods even hold the potential to make foods easier to digest and free of allergens. Monsanto is already working on strains of peanuts that would at least reduce the incidence of allergic reactions, now a deadly threat to the most sensitive individuals. Research on wheat is underway to eliminate the portion of the protein gluten that is now basically indigestible by as many as one in 250 in the US.
GM crops could eventually sustain the soil, even as they take nourishment from it at the same time. While commonsense precautions are warranted in the development of new plants, as with any new food-related product, the benefits of applying genetic science to crop production are overwhelming positive.
Ponder This:
1. Outline the major benefits of genetically modified food crops cited by the author.
● 2. For which benefit does the author make the most convincing argument? Explain.
● 3. For which benefit does the author make the least convincing argument? Explain.
● 4. How do the views of EU leaders on genetically modified food crops differ from those of leaders of less affluent nations?
● 5. In the dispute between the EU and US over the safety of genetically modified food crops, should the burden lie with the US to prove safety or the EU to prove harm? Discuss.
Bibliography
Books
Degregori, Thomas R. Bountiful Harvest: Technology, Food Safety, and the Environment. Washington, DC: Cato Institute, 2002.
Pinstrup-Andersen, Per and Ebbe Schioler. Seeds of Contention: World Hunger and the Global Controversy Over GM (Genetically Modified) Crops. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute, 2001.
Lambrecht, Bill. Dinner at the New Gene Cafe: How Genetic Engineering Is Changing What We Eat, How We Live, and the Global Politics of Food. New York: St. Martin's Press, 2002.
Charles, Daniel. Lords of the Harvest: Biotech, Big Money, and the Future of Food. New York: Perseus Publishing, 2002.
Websites
AgBioWorld Foundation. http://www.agbioworld.org/.
"Transgenic Crops. An Introduction and Resource Guide." Colorado State University Center for Life Sciences, 12 August, 2003, http://www.colostate.edu/programs/lifesci ences/TransgenicCrops/.
Rehberg, Denny. "GM foods can help feed world." Montana Forum. 18 August 2003. http://www.montanaforum.com/rednews/ 2003/08/17/build/ag/gm-op.php?nnn=6.
"Genetically Improved Foods." Center for Consumer Freedom. 18 August 2003.
http://www.consumerfreedom.com/issue page%5Ffoodtech%5Fbio.cfm.
"GM food safety fear 'based on distortion'." NewScientist.com. 18 August 2003. http://www.newscientist.com/hottopics/g m/gm.jsp?id=ns99993874.
"Report 10 of the Council on Scientific Affairs (I-2000): Genetically Modified Crops and Foods." The American Medical Association. 12 August 2003. http://www.ama-assn.org.chamberlainuni versity.idm.oclc.org/ama/pub/article/2036 -3604.html.
"'Frankenfood' Frenzy." Reason Online. 18 August 2003. http://reason.com/bi/bi-gmf.shtml.
● These essays and any opinions, information or representations contained therein are the creation of the particular author and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of EBSCO Information Services.
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By John Pearson
Copyright of Points of View: Genetically Modified Foods is the property of Great Neck Publishing and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.
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