WHY GMO’S MATTER

by commentnewspaper

By Kayla Lemay

Comment Staff

 

Genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, have become a pretty big deal as of late.

 

We’ve been hearing a lot about them, including last week’s front page article about GMOs being in the Naked juice offered on campus. But what exactly do GMOs have to do with college students? Why should we even care at all?

 

Other schools are adopting more organic food options, while here at Bridgewater State, Sodexo is slowly incorporating these options here on campus, with local produce found at the salad bars. However, it’s still too slow for what science is really telling us. GMOs have the potential to be very dangerous, so why are we still eating genetically modified products here on campus?

Image
Heather Burgess Photo

GMOs are found in approximately 80 percent of the food we eat here in the United States, according to the Non-GMO Project. They are also banned in foods sold in many countries in Europe.

 

But they allow farmers to grow food that can stand up to bugs, insecticide, and allows the food to grow bigger and faster. So that can’t possibly be bad. But it is, because when all these toxic pesticides are used the environment suffers. Plants and animals not genetically modified to survive against these poisonous pesticides can get sick and die from them.

 

According to the Institute for Responsible Technology, GMOs actually don’t prevent crops from dying against things like drought. Not only that, but it’s said that some crops don’t produce nearly as much when they aren’t genetically modified.

 

And even worse, the problems in GMOs can directly affect us. Testing done on pregnant women showed that a pesticide in GMO corn was found in both her and the unborn baby’s blood. It can last, and possibly cause problems later on that science may not have picked up on just yet.

 

Companies that brought us DDT, a mosquito killer that also killed other beneficial animals, are a part of our GMO consumption. The big companies that are more concerned with money are nothing to joke around with. The money is what speaks to them, and they won’t hesitate to claim their science has proven GMOs are safe. Independent scientists are having other findings.

 

Definitely do more of your own research on GMOs, and you’ll see that we’re heading down a dangerous path. It’s time to follow our friends in Europe and get rid of genetically modified products. They were a great idea in theory, but in practice it only spells trouble.

 

Kayla Lemay is a Comment staff writer. Email her at klemay@student.bridgew.edu.

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