What are the pros and cons of genetically engineered foods? ?

[Serendipity]

Do you feel safe eating them?
Nice answers, thanks.

[CrazyChiQ]

An issue that has entered the mainstream media in a lot of countries (noticeably not really in the US) is Genetic Engineering (GE) or Genetic Modification (GM) of food. A lot of food that we eat today contains genetically modified ingredients and usually without our knowledge.

Supporters of this technology maintain that it ensures and sustains food security around the world as the population increases.

As time goes on, the science behind genetic engineering is no doubt improving. Biotechnology could be the wave of the future and genetically modified foods could really provide alternatives to help increase food production. However, there is a growing wave of concern from citizens, farmers and scientists who question the way the research is currently being handled by a few large, profit-hungry corporations. That is, as well as scientific debates on the merits of genetically engineered food, there are equally, if not more important, debates on the socioeconomic ramifications of the way such science is marketed and used. Critics believe:

The problem of food shortages is a political and economic problem.
Food shortages and hunger are -- and will be -- experienced by the poorer nations.
GE Food is an expensive technology that the farmers of the developing nations would not be able to afford easily.
Patenting laws go against the poor around the world and allow biotech companies to benefit from patenting indigenous knowledge often without consent.
This is a very young and untested technology and may not be the answer just yet.
Crop uniformity, which the biotech firms are promoting, will reduce genetic diversity making them more vulnerable to disease and pests. This furthers the need for pesticides (often created by the same companies creating and promoting genetically engineered crops).
Hence this leads to questions of the motives of corporations and countries who are using the plight of the developing world as a marketing strategy to gain acceptance of GE food as well as dependency upon it via intellectual property rights. That they are against any labeling or other precautionary steps and measures that states may wish to take is of paramount concern.

The way in which we reach the answer to the question, "are GE foods safe?" is where a lot of the problem lies. A quick acceptance of GE foods without proper testing etc. could show corporate profitability to be very influential, while a thorough debate and sufficient public participation would ensure that real social and environmental concerns are in fact adhered to. And this pattern would probably indicate to us how other major issues in the future ought to be dealt with.

There is also the issue of do we actually need genetically engineered food, given that agriculture in small biodiverse farms are actually very productive. Economics and politics at all levels, (international, national and local) have often prevented food from reaching hungry people, not a lack of production. These same causes have also created, or contributed to, a lot of poverty, which prevents people from being able to afford food in the first place.

This section then, looks more into the political issues behind the emerging promotion of biotechnology and genetically modified or engineered foods.

Articles on “Genetically Engineered Food”:

[Ritaah]

I don't want them. The cons (and it really is a con) is that the seeds of genetically modified crops are sterile so that no new crop can be grown from them. This means that the poor farmers who buy them with the promise of a bigger, better crop will have to buy new seeds every year, whereas he would prefer to keep some of the seed for next year's harvest. So much for helping the poorer countries get more food!! How firms like Monsanto get a new lot of fertile seeds each year is a mystery to me.

[BILL]

don't trust GE foods. just something not right about messing with nature. next they'll be wanting to genetically engineer people if they haven't already.

[Ruby]

The only pros are the spin that we get from the corporate media. It is myth that GMO crops have higher yield.

GMO is nothing more than the giant agribusinesses wanting to control the food supply for their profit at the expense of YOUR HEALTH and the ECOLOGY, including the bees.

GMO is harmful to people, harmful to the environment and will eventually render mother earth unable to produce food for any of her inhabitants.

Why do you think the ruling elite have set up the Doomsday seed vault off of Norway? They KNOW the world's heirloom seed supplies will be annihilated.

The insanity must stop but I don't know how that will happen when the players behind have the media in their pockets. People who care about leaving a habitable world for future generations must look beyond what they hear from the mainstream media.

I'm not a fan of Prince Charles, but he is right on the money on this one and has now become a target for ridicule from the benefactors of GMO - Monsanto and counterparts:

"Prince Charles said the widespread use of genetically modified crops would the "biggest disaster environmentally of all time" in a newspaper interview published on Wednesday."

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/...1e200857d6

Hmm. This story was reported by some US Mainstream media but seems to have been taken down. Why? Try doing a Goggle search for mainstream media sites for the story then see how many of the linked pages are now gone.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/special_repor...285408.stm

[Virtual Evie]

Population reduction through genetically/bio engineered plants and animals. Codex Alimentarius (Latin: Food Rules) 12/31/09 177 countries will be "harmonized". See World Health Organization.

There will no longer be organic standards in countries, WHO and nazis will control organic food. radiated, grown in pesticide environments...eventually 177 countries will decide whether or not YOU can grow your own food! Total control of what you eat. Scary!

I'm an organic gardener and will never give up my right to pure, organic, healthy, natural food untainted by chemicals, radiation and genetically engineered vegetation. Seeds are now bio-engineered to only grow when treated with Monsanto pesticides.

[The Sushi King]

Pro: more supply, more control over qualities (juicier, better looking, etc)

Con: 20 years from now when your mutated intestines jump out of your abdomen and strangle you to death