Reference.

GM-Free Cymru. (n.d.). Revealed – How The American FDA Promotes GM Foods. Retrieved from: http://www.gmfreecymru.org/pivotal_papers/revealed.htm 

Louise, V. (n.d). Organic food info- Advantages of organic food- what goes in your food? Retrieved from: http://www.csa.com/discoveryguides/gmfood/overview.php.     

Whitman, D. B. (2000, April). Genetically Modified Foods: Harmful or Helpful? Retrieved from: http://www.csa.com/discoveryguides/gmfood/overview.php.

Conclusion.

Finally, the unavoidable question here is about food. This new technology of genetic modification gives us the power to create and alter species in unimaginable ways. Sometimes for the benefit of people living in third world countries, and sometimes for the profit we can make from price mark ups of these fancy products. Personally I do not think it is worth putting our future generations at risk by using them as lab rats. Furthermore, it could result devastatingly for the human race in the long run, if this impeccable power is used carelessly. Although organic food is much safer, can we seize the growth of technology? Sooner or later you will have to choose between genetically modified and organic food.     

Suicide Gene.

There is another way farming genetically modified crops could financially result in devastating ways for farmers. That is, if the “suicide gene” is introduced to prevent cross-pollination. The suicide gene is a gene that produces sterile seeds after the first growing season, and thwarting them from reproducing. Farmers will have to purchase a fresh supply of seeds for every growing season. Doing so will over time become unaffordable for farmers in third world countries, where such modified goods can be the most beneficial. In which case they’ll have to invest in organic crops, that can be time-consuming and aren’t immune to pesticides.

Affordability.

Thirdly, there is a risk with genetically modified foods that can be ignored now, but it may majorly affect us in the future. Although marketing modified food may well raise concerns in first world countries, but it could be a different case in third world countries. Bringing genetically modified goods to the table can be a costly process and overtime, as the modifying technologies progress, it will become harder to afford “thus widening the gap between the wealthy and the poor” (Whitman, 2000). Whilst the prices for modified seeds increase, the organic seeds will probably still be affordable for farmers in some depleted countries.

Environmental factors.

The second alarming effect of genetically modified food is the environmental factor behind it. According to Whitman, (2000), “In 2000, 68% of all GM crops were grown by U.S. farmers.” Although genetically modified food can be tailored to become more nutritious, pest and disease resistant, their customized genes may sometimes unexpectedly fall apart, or scramble and assemble themselves into accidental DNA stands. Such accidental combinations can have unpredictable outcomes including the contamination of the soil they were grown in. The pollen from these genetically modified crops may be carried by birds and the wind and contaminated their surroundings. There is also a high risk of these malformed genetic traits to be unknowingly passed onto the next set of crops grown on those fields, thus resulting in an unintended chain of soil and crops modification. Modified fields, and surroundings will never be able to harvest organic material like they once used to, whilst organic plantations leave the soil as it was. 

Lab Rats.

Firstly, not many people are aware that we have been unknowingly consuming genetically modified organisms for the past ten years. When the United States, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the marketing of genetically modified products, they made an exception of the use the “generally recognized as safe” (GRAS) status. This status permits genetically modified goods to be supplied without any additional testing, or labelling it as a genetically modified product. Many unlabelled products caused consumers to have major allergic reactions because they were unaware of what they are actually consuming. If genetically modified foods are not labelled, consumers are not able to exercise their rights, whereas organic products are always labelled, and contain natural vitamins and minerals. Organic products are also known to contain “50% more nutrients” then “intensively farmed” crops (Louise, n.d). It is only imaginable how vastly the amount of natural nutrition can diminish if the gene modification laboratories continue experimenting with public unaware to the fact of being treated as lab rats. 

Genetically modified food harms more than it helps.

The term “Genetically modified” is used to define products that have been genetically engineered by being injected with a potentially beneficial DNA extract from different and mostly unrelated species of organisms. These DNA extracts are infused with plant cells, which are later cloned to crops, while organic products are grown naturally, in unmodified soil, with original seeds. In year 1992, Vice president Dan Quayle and Chair Council on Competitiveness acknowledged that the growing industry of genetically modified products could possibly increase United States exportations (GM-Free Cymru, n.d.). This was the beginning of the globalization of genetically modified goods and the contamination of organic crops. Unfortunately, gene modification is also one of the leading industries causing many economic issues, health and environment risks, worldwide.