I personally believe that genetically modified organisms are very beneficial in today's society. Genetically modified foods have helped to improve the production of produce drastically over the past decade. GM foods have also helped to solve many issues that farmers have had to constantly face.
GM foods have helped farmers cut back costs on purchasing and applying pesticides and herbicides to their crops which also benefits the consumer because they don't have to worry about their products being laced with toxic chemicals. The removal of pesticides and herbicides also eliminates a lot of pollution caused from runoff. GM plants are also benefiting farmers/industries because more are becoming genetically modified to withstand cold conditions from spontaneous frosts as well as withstand drought and saline soil conditions in areas that would usually not be "growable" areas. However, one of the greatest benefits that GM foods have created today are that they are now making produce plants that contain additional vitamins, minerals and nutrients. By creating very high nutritional fortified plants, we are now able to reduce the issue of malnutrition in third world countries. These plants that are extremely nutritional can also be resistant against the harsh climates, therefore allowing farmers in third world villages able to supply a substantial amount of crops to feed their local population.
Although, there is concern about the implications that GM foods will have on Health and the Environment. There has been discussions concerning as to whether or not these new GM foods will cause health impacts on humans such as new allergens. However, all GM foods are subjected to inspection by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and on one occasion, a company wished to insert a gene from a peanut into a soybean but the CFIA shut down the production of the food due to the likelihood of a new allergen being made. Studies are also being done to test any longterm effects that GM foods will have on the body, but so far no studies have shown any negative results. Organizations are also concerned about GM plants cross-pollinating with non-GM plants. I personally don't see how this could cause a negative "buzz" among society because these neighbouring plants are also being genetically improved. However, "buffer" zones around GM crop areas are being created so that the neighbouring plants are the ones purposely getting contaminated but the surrounding outside area won't be nearly as affected.
Overall, I see far more positive effects of genetically modified foods than there are negative.
GM foods have helped farmers cut back costs on purchasing and applying pesticides and herbicides to their crops which also benefits the consumer because they don't have to worry about their products being laced with toxic chemicals. The removal of pesticides and herbicides also eliminates a lot of pollution caused from runoff. GM plants are also benefiting farmers/industries because more are becoming genetically modified to withstand cold conditions from spontaneous frosts as well as withstand drought and saline soil conditions in areas that would usually not be "growable" areas. However, one of the greatest benefits that GM foods have created today are that they are now making produce plants that contain additional vitamins, minerals and nutrients. By creating very high nutritional fortified plants, we are now able to reduce the issue of malnutrition in third world countries. These plants that are extremely nutritional can also be resistant against the harsh climates, therefore allowing farmers in third world villages able to supply a substantial amount of crops to feed their local population.
Although, there is concern about the implications that GM foods will have on Health and the Environment. There has been discussions concerning as to whether or not these new GM foods will cause health impacts on humans such as new allergens. However, all GM foods are subjected to inspection by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and on one occasion, a company wished to insert a gene from a peanut into a soybean but the CFIA shut down the production of the food due to the likelihood of a new allergen being made. Studies are also being done to test any longterm effects that GM foods will have on the body, but so far no studies have shown any negative results. Organizations are also concerned about GM plants cross-pollinating with non-GM plants. I personally don't see how this could cause a negative "buzz" among society because these neighbouring plants are also being genetically improved. However, "buffer" zones around GM crop areas are being created so that the neighbouring plants are the ones purposely getting contaminated but the surrounding outside area won't be nearly as affected.
Overall, I see far more positive effects of genetically modified foods than there are negative.