There are many foods in today's market that are GMOs, or genetically modified organisms. Cotton, corn, soy, and canola are just a few of the foods that are usually genetically modified in the United States. GMOs are animals or plants that have been changed at the molecular level so that a specific goal can be achieved. Non GMO products are those that are in their natural state and have not been altered genetically. The problem is that these foods are getting more and more difficult to find.
Once upon a time someone had an idea. If you took the genes from a plant that was repellent to a pest and you spliced it with the genes of a plant that was being destroyed by said pest, you could fix a huge problem. You wouldn't need as many pesticides and the yield of the plant would increase. Many people thought this sounded like a good idea, so genetic modification began.
In a simpler form, this has been happening since humans first began farming. Farmers would use natural selection and cross breeding to create plants that were heartier and produced more food. This has worked well for many years. So why wouldn't it work just as well to essentially do the same thing, just with better technology on our side?
Unfortunately it is not the same thing at all. Cross breeding only uses two creatures or plants that are in their natural state. Genetic modification actually changes the essential composition of something. Things are being created that could never occur naturally, and now are being sold in stores for human consumption.
The FDA decided that there is not a large enough difference between foods that are GMO and ones that are not for them to have to be labeled. This causes a problem, though, because GMOs have not been around for long. There is little indication of what the effects will be long term. Since this is the case, many people are choosing to completely avoid all GMO foods.
This is surprisingly difficult since the FDA does not require labeling for these products, but it can be done. Certain stores and manufacturers believe that all GMO foods should be labeled. Many health food stores require that there is labeling on all GMO foods, and most manufacturers of non GMO foods label it clearly on the packaging.
Even so, there is still the problem that GMOs are in almost everything. Additives such as high fructose corn syrup, ascorbic acid, yeast products, maltodextrin, and citric acid are in almost everything. They also happen to be at extremely high risk of containing GMOs, which means that finding food in a regular supermarket that has not been modified is nearly impossible.
This means that people who are serious about only having non GMO foods in their diet are forced to shop at health food stores. This is not a problem for some people, but can be a serious issue for people who are on tight budgets. Those types of stores are generally fairly expensive since they have to be so selective with their suppliers.
Once upon a time someone had an idea. If you took the genes from a plant that was repellent to a pest and you spliced it with the genes of a plant that was being destroyed by said pest, you could fix a huge problem. You wouldn't need as many pesticides and the yield of the plant would increase. Many people thought this sounded like a good idea, so genetic modification began.
In a simpler form, this has been happening since humans first began farming. Farmers would use natural selection and cross breeding to create plants that were heartier and produced more food. This has worked well for many years. So why wouldn't it work just as well to essentially do the same thing, just with better technology on our side?
Unfortunately it is not the same thing at all. Cross breeding only uses two creatures or plants that are in their natural state. Genetic modification actually changes the essential composition of something. Things are being created that could never occur naturally, and now are being sold in stores for human consumption.
The FDA decided that there is not a large enough difference between foods that are GMO and ones that are not for them to have to be labeled. This causes a problem, though, because GMOs have not been around for long. There is little indication of what the effects will be long term. Since this is the case, many people are choosing to completely avoid all GMO foods.
This is surprisingly difficult since the FDA does not require labeling for these products, but it can be done. Certain stores and manufacturers believe that all GMO foods should be labeled. Many health food stores require that there is labeling on all GMO foods, and most manufacturers of non GMO foods label it clearly on the packaging.
Even so, there is still the problem that GMOs are in almost everything. Additives such as high fructose corn syrup, ascorbic acid, yeast products, maltodextrin, and citric acid are in almost everything. They also happen to be at extremely high risk of containing GMOs, which means that finding food in a regular supermarket that has not been modified is nearly impossible.
This means that people who are serious about only having non GMO foods in their diet are forced to shop at health food stores. This is not a problem for some people, but can be a serious issue for people who are on tight budgets. Those types of stores are generally fairly expensive since they have to be so selective with their suppliers.
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