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Draft of Research Essay

Human beings require food for survival. However, the number of human beings on the planet has increased rapidly in recent times. This has caused a strain on the capacity of the environment to produce enough food for the population. This is a situation that has prompted the scientific community to intervene. This intervention has seen the introduction of genetically modified foods. Despite the introduction of these foods there are sections of the population which prefer to consume organic foods. Organic foods are superior to genetically modified foods in terms of suitability for human consumption. The main proponents of the consumption of organic foods over genetically modified foods have noted the difference in quality between the two. Organic foods are grown naturally. As a result, they have natural nutrients. These are the nutrients which are essential for the development of the human body. The issue is not limited to plant life. There are also farmers who breed their animals naturally. They also ensure that these animals feed on vegetation and are not chemically enhanced in any way. This results in a breed of animals that is considered as being superior in quality (Bazilian, 2015). The result of this is animal based food products that are superior in quality just like their organic plant counterparts. From a scientific point of view food is supposed to be fresh so as to ensure that it passes on the necessary nutrients top the consumer. A good example of this is people being advised not to overcook vegetables in order to avoid depletion of their nutritious value. Organic foods are superior to their genetically modified counterparts in terms of freshness and by extension nutritious value. Genetically modified foods are usually characterized by the presence of preservatives. These preservatives are meant to make them have a longer shelf life. This is an issue that can be analyzed from an economic point of view. They have a longer shelf life so as to ensure that they remain on the shelf long enough to get sold. The aim here is to ensure that the producers of these foods do not experience a loss as a result of their products getting bad. These preservatives are merely an economic scheme aimed at protecting the producers of these products from losses. They do not have the best interest of the consumers at heart with reference to this elevated level of preservatives. Thus, organic foods are superior to genetically modified foods in this respect (Bazilian, 2015). Genetically modified animals are usually given growth hormones and fed animal byproducts. The latter is contrary to their natural setting in which most of these animals are supposed to consume natural products such as plants. The feeding of these animal byproducts aims at making them mature faster and be bigger than they would be naturally. A good example of this is a genetically modified chicken being up to five times as large as an organic chicken. Despite the genetically modified animals being bigger they are usually devoid of nutrition. These animals are basically engineered to grow up fast and die. This is as opposed to animals being reared to grow up and provide nutrition to the society. The former results in animal products that are cheaper yet unideal for human consumption. This is as opposed to organic animals which are nutritious and have been reared in the right manner without any growth hormones. Purity is also another element of superiority that organic foods have over genetically modified foods. Genetically modified foods are usually grown in an environment that is heavily fertilized artificially and contains a lot of pesticides. These products usually affect the chemical composition of these products. As a result people may be eating plant products that have a lot of artificial chemicals. These chemicals might in turn end up harming the human body. The body may not have the necessary digestive measures with which to handle such chemicals (Miller, 2008). Thus, people may be eating dangerous chemicals that ultimately play a huge role in the development of lifestyle diseases. The main proponents of the consumption of genetically modified foods usually cite several factors. Among these factors is price. Genetically modified foods usually cost a lot less than organic foods. This can be advantageous especially taking into consideration the current and recent economic conditions. Food makes a large portion of the budget of any household. Thus, the notion of being able to get food at a cheaper price is usually attractive for a lot of people. However, people need to know that this notion basically short changes them. These genetically modified foods are cheaper that organic foods because they have less nutritious value (Miller, 2008). Thus, people will be spending less money on these products and also getting less in terms of nutritious value. This is a trade that does not make sense from a utility standpoint since the purpose of food is nutrition. The proponents of genetically modified foods also cite the speed of production as an advantage for these products. They note that these products can survive in extreme environments and can also be ready for consumption in relatively less time. This is true. However, this speed also comes at a price. These products mature faster because they are not given time to accumulate all the necessary nutrients necessary for the human body. Thus, people will still be shortchanging nutritious value for the speed of production of food. This is yet another exchange that does not make sense from a utility standpoint. It is better to let food mature in the needed natural time but have food that is highly nutritious and leads to the development of healthy society (Smith et al, 2011). Genetically modified foods are fast gaining popularity across the world. They are hailed as the new scientific frontier for food consumption. However, there are still people who emphasize on eating food that is grown or produced in the natural way. These people may be criticized as being primitive and not embracing technology but they know exactly what they are doing. They are not willing to shortchange the nutritious value of their food for price or speed of production. Organic foods are definitely more suitable for human consumption compared to genetically modified foods. Their natural production means that they contain all the necessary nutrients for the human body. The human body is also armed with the digestive mechanisms with which to deal with such food products hence their superiority from a value and safety standpoint. Comment by Intructor: You're spending too much time and language on an issue that can be easily summarized or stated in only a few gestures. This kind of writing comes across as uncontrolled, inefficient, and your audience might begin to feel like you're just trying to get to a page requirement, etc. Academic writing should be efficient, clear, to-the-point and immediate. We should not have to sift t through repetitive, vague statements or attention to the obvious. Comment by Intructor: Here's a point to expand. What do you mean by this? What's a "natural nutrient"? Are "artificial nutrients" inessential to the human body? Are me fabricating iron? From what? Comment by Intructor: This is an illogical statement. Is the grandmother inspecting avocados for ripeness and freshness a scientist?  Pollan made this point for you! Comment by Intructor: This paragraph is incoherent. It's disorganized, contains more than one topic and poorly structured. Comment by Intructor: Dude no!! Salt will increase shelf life. Genetic modification is a result of biotechnology. http://responsibletechnology.org/gmo-education/ Comment by Intructor: There are serious illogical errors here. Comment by Intructor: True! Comment by Intructor: That's not genetic modification Comment by Intructor: Alright. This is a serious error. Please see the comments.

Works Cited

Bazilian, Wendy. Eat Clean, Stay Lean: The Ultimate Guide to Clean, Cleaner, and Cleanest Foods. McGraw Hill, 2015.

Miller, Debra A. Organic Foods. Thomson / Gale, 2008.

Smith, Jeffrey M, et al. Gmo Trilogy. 2011.

39/50

Okay, you're unaware of what genetic modification is. It's not simply to do with farming. There's a massive (MASSIVE!) difference between conventional farming and genetic modification.  Here's a list of the most common GMOs: https://www.cornucopia.org/2013/06/top-10-most-common-gmo-foods/ Now...you're in a bit of a conflict here. A college audience does not need to know that organic food is healthier. However, a college audience may not know what reasons corporations might have for engineering plants and animals genetically.  As you're suggesting, large scale organic farming is probably not possible with current technology, given the current food distribution system that sees California producing the vast majority of our fruits and vegetables.  Local organic farming is, however, possible, as is an adjustment to certain farming practices, or the harvesting of different animals. (Germany is experimenting with using beetles for food, for example, and making burgers out of them.) But that's a separate issue from the polar comparison you're making, with organic farming on one side and genetic modification on the other. I"m not farming organically if I use Miracle Grow in my garden. I might be planting genetically modified seeds. If I'm planting genetically modified seeds and fertilizing them with Miracle Grow...yes...I'm not an organic farmer. I might produce beautiful zucchini and tomato plants, and I might not use any pesticides at all...but that's hardly the breadth of the situation.  You have to settle these issues: 1.) What does "natural" mean? 2.) What is a "superior" food? If my lemon tree has 20% fewer pests attracted to it, isn't my lemon tree superior?  3.) What do you want to do? We generally agree that organic farming is better for the environment and our health, no matter if we're comparing the practice to genetic modification or conventional farming. So...do you have a way of increasing the amount of organic farming taking place in America, for example? Who could get that done? How could we get more organic food on the shelves in stores, or how could we get more organic farms in places like Chicago or Northeast Illinois?