GMO, Genetically Modified Organisms is a bacterium, yeast, insect, plant and mammal whose genetic material has been altered using genetic engineering techniques. GMOs are in 90 percent of the cash crops like cotton, corn, soybeans nationwide. Farmers use GMO in their crops to keep the crops stronger and withstand the chemicals they use on the crops while growing to keep pesticides away and kill weeds.
Me personally, I do not feel like their has been enough research on GMO and that is why it should be labeled on Texans foods. If people want to take the risk of not knowing what they are putting in their bodies, go for it, but at least they are making a decision off knowing all the facts of what they are consuming. They have been using GMO for years because they produce very large quantities of food to feed the world.....and also making biotech companies very rich.....
Maine and Connecticut have already passed bills to have all foods labeled if contain GMO and 26 other states have considered legislation. As of now, nothing has even been brought to Texas legislation and the issue is pretty stagnant here in our homeland. Most farmers will advocate that the products are safe and we don't need to label them. My question is, if you claim it is safe why not just label them?
Below is 64 countries were it is required to label all GMO products......If the USA is suppose to be "one of the most powerful countries" in the world then why are we so behind the game on something that effects millions of peoples life?....once again.
Australia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cameroon, China, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, El Salvador, Estonia, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Latvai, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mali, Malta, Mauritius, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Vietnam.
If you would like to see where the other states stand currently with GMO labeling click HERE!
Australia
2 comments:
My colleague Lydia Penturf brings up an intriguing and hotly debated topic in her latest post, “GMO Labeling in Texas.” The question of whether or not food companies should be required by law to label products that contain GMOs has recently become of interest to consumers nationwide, and viable arguments have been produced by both proponents and opponents of labeling. Ms. Penturf is correct in stating that there are many things to learn before taking a side on the issue, but I cannot say that I agree with the side she takes in her post. She argues that consumers should have the right to know what is in the food they purchase, and in some respects this is a very good point. However, when the pros of labeling are weighed against the cons, it doesn’t seem worth it to require labeling, and many leading scientific organizations and publications agree.
Ms. Penturf’s facts are correct when she defines GMOs as organisms that have been altered by genetic engineering, and she is also correct that they constitute the vast majority of the crops we consume today. However, this is nothing new to the human race at all. In fact, since agriculture has existed humans have been consuming GMOs. The only thing “genetically modified” means is that an organism has been deliberately bred to produce a more desirable result, and humans have been selectively breeding both plants and animals for thousands of years. Without genetic modification, the yellow corn that is essentially the kingpin of our food industry would not exist. Apples would be smaller than our fists and unpleasantly tart. In this video, Neil DeGrasse Tyson further explains what exactly a GMO is.
In Ms. Penturf’s editorial, she voices concern that there has not been enough research done on GMOs to qualify them as safe, but in fact there have been many studies, none of which could provide evidence that GMOs were harmful. Furthermore, there is extensive research behind the actual genetic modification process itself, making it a far more precise procedure than conventional selective breeding. The labs that produce GMOs have even been able to create foods that combat disease, such as Golden Rice which can prevent blindness by curbing vitamin A deficiency.
The main question Ms. Penturf raises in her post is, “if you claim it is safe, why not just label them?” This is actually a very good question, and the central argument for advocates of GMO labeling. The first answer to this question is the unfounded hysteria and misinformation that would most likely be propagated by GMO labels. Similar to “Gluten Free” labels, they would imply a false sense of healthier choices to the unaware consumer. By requiring GMO labels, we would be implying that GMOs are actually something to avoid, which science has proven they are not. Consumers would gravitate heavily towards non-GMO products, which means most companies would remove GMOs from their products to appease customers. This leads to the second answer to the question: money. Conventional crops require more water and pesticides, and are more expensive to produce. Switching to non-GMO foods could add up to $400 to a family’s annual food bill, and could also mean companies decrease the wages of farm workers to make up for extra costs. In my opinion, if GMOs are safe, it is unnecessary to provide a label that will only cause confusion and cost average people more money.
My colleague Lydia Penturf has a good argument about GMO’s. In her blog entry GMO labeling in Texas she raises the question of labeling for GMO foods in Texas. Lydia mentions that GMO stands for Genetically Modified Organisms is bacterium, yeast, insect, plant and mammal whose genetic material has been altered. A good answer and question, but not the right question to ask, but it is close to an answer that is right. The question is who made GMO’s, could these organisms destroy our environment, and how is the organism altered. Most civilians or scientists who are paid to agree with studies will say things like the proper research has been done to prove GMO’s are safe, we have been doing this the whole time through the years with corn and other crops. This is just propaganda that is feed to people from the company profiting from these products.
The company named Monsanto is who makes GMO’s. Now who is this company named Monsanto. It is a company founded by Hugh Grant in 1901. It has a quite a track record with DDT’s, PCB’s, and Agent Orange. That is just a few examples of the substances that this company has unleashed on the planet. Just by doing a little research (link provided) anyone can see that these substances have done major damage not just to the environment but to plants, animals and humans. All these substances have been banned here in the United States. The environment is balanced and substances unleashed upon it can hurt it very bad, for example plastic bags. Could these modified foods replace all of the normal organisms in the environment to wreak havoc upon the world like DDT’s, PCB’s and Agent Orange has. The organisms with some GMO’s are modified with bacterial DNA called CpG Motif. It’s a question just how can this affect the body. I certainly don’t feel like being a lab rat to find out.
The studies done with GMO’s that have been approved are really bad studies done and raise quite a bit of questions about how they were done. Here is a link to studies done against and for GMO’s.(link to studies) No, we have been doing this the entire time through-out history, we have not been taking microscopes and injecting different bacteria such as CpG Motif into the organism or bacteria to prevent a chemical called round-up from killing the plant, but it kills all the bugs and organisms around it. It that really safe, research certainly says no, but this isn’t approved by everyone in the world. Just like DDT’s hasn’t been banned around the world, but it is in America. Not enough food in the world because people are starving certainly is a lie because food has been turned into an industry. Food is sitting on selves at grocery stores until it becomes spoils, but is thrown away because someone expects money for it. Some of this food could give vitamin A to some children suffering from blindness in another country instead of fake rice made in a lab that could possibly hurt the kids in long run like cancer in the eyes instead of blindness.
In my opinion, maybe we shouldn’t trust a company that has such a track record and one that lobbies heavily and does classified work through-out the government. The funniest thing is, the company offers jobs to individuals who help get their products passed to sell. For example, multiple people who work for Monsanto are former workers from the FDA that passed products for them. I don’t think GMO’s should be labeled, I believe they should be banned just like all their other products that destroyed our environment. Just how many skeletons does this company have hidden that has been classified. Will we continue to let big businesses destroy the environment until we all die or will we wake up?
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