Siobhan Bradley, Origin Green Ambassador
As the public perception of GMO foods in Europe become increasingly negative, many countries including France, Germany, Austria and Luxembourg have placed bans on the cultivation and sale of GMOs. On 10th July 2018, The Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Denis Naughten, secured Cabinet approval to enable the prohibition or restriction of the cultivation of GMOs in Ireland. Meanwhile, the sector thrives in the United States with millions of acres of farmland dedicated to GMO crops.
But, are GMOs really as bad as we think?
A genetically modified organism is any organism whose genetic material has been altered using genetic engineering techniques. Changes to genes don’t have to be a bad thing, after all, this occurs naturally over time. Nothing that we eat today is exactly the same as what grew a hundred years ago. Both plants and animals bred in such a way that the most useful genes (characteristics or traits) were passed on to the next generation to become the norm. Humans began to speed up this process by saving the seeds of the best plants and using them to grow new ones, over and over. This is how we transformed tiny kernels into the big ears of corn on the cob we know and love today. Now, scientists have figured out a way to speed up this process, by-passing generations, by genetically modifying these plants in a lab. These GMO plants can produce fruit and vegetables that don’t bruise, are naturally resistant to pests, can survive drought, contain extra vitamins and minerals, and have an extended shelf life, plus a higher yield at a smaller price.
This is good news for:
• Our future food supply – the FAO estimates that food production will need to double by 2050.
• The environment – by reducing the use of pesticides which have harmful effects on the environment and also by reducing food waste thanks to a longer shelf life.
• Human health – improving the nutritional value of food could be key in developing countries.
The science so far claims that GMOs are perfectly safe for human consumption. In the last 20 years, no negative impacts on human health have been reported or confirmed in any scientific journals.
