Are GM Foods Really Necessary?

What are the disadvantages of GM foods?

GM foods have many advantages that may make them seem to be very beneficial, but when the disadvantages are also taken into account, the topic becomes controversial. An important subject in the disadvantages of GM foods is allergic reaction. Several increases of allergies have been blamed on genetic modification, such as when allergies to soybeans increased by half in an area after genetically modified soybean products were released to the public. Another widely publicized disadvantage of genetic modification is the face that GM foods haven’t been around long enough for us to know what long-term effects they might have on human health. Since the first major release of GM foods into the market was in the mid 1990’s, we have less than 20 years of knowledge on how they can affect us in the long run. Also, new modifications are being invented every year, and any of those might be harmful to humans in the future.

Another possibility is that a GM food that is resistant to pesticide might mix with an unwanted plant, such as weeds, the resulting plant might be a type of weed immune to pesticides. This new plant would require stronger pesticides to kill it, and these chemicals would also harm the other plants around the weeds, making the ground unusable. Insects that feed on the pesticide resistant crops might also develop immunity to insecticide, resulting in the same environmental impact as above, since stronger insecticides would have to be created, harming the environment.

Could we live without GM foods?

It was pointed out earlier that by using genetically modified foods, a larger population could be fed at a lower cost, resulting in less famine in developing countries. The problem however, is not that there isn’t enough food to feed everyone, since all the food on earth right now could feed the world’s population. The problem is that the food isn’t being distributed correctly. Instead of everyone having a fair share of the food, people in developed countries tend to waster food by throwing it out, not giving a though to people who don’t have access to food. According to recent statistics, the US wastes 30% of good, edible food every year. If the food wasn’t wasted like this, there wouldn’t be any need for GM foods, because everyone would have enough food. The solution to this problem isn’t to increase the output of crops while at the same time increasing the risks of unknown diseases. The solution is to somehow raise awareness that this food could go to a much better cause.

On the other hand, it’s very hard to change how so many people think unless they face famine and malnutrition themselves. GM foods may seem like the fast way to reduce starvation, but even with genetic modification, there are still billions of people that aren’t getting the right nutrition.

So, do we really need GM foods?

After evaluating the advantages and disadvantages of GM foods, I noticed that most of the disadvantages are based on the fact that we don’t know how GM foods can affect us. However, there are a few disadvantages such as allergies that can cause a harmful effect, and due to the growing number of people who have allergies, this could pose a problem. Also, since a lot of the advantages aren’t as good as they were expected to be, GM foods are quite more disadvantageous than not. Since GM foods don’t really help people in developing countries, then they aren’t really necessary. I conclude with the fact that GM foods aren’t necessary, and we would probably live better without them.