It’s important to keep these chemicals from reaching our food until we can do further research on possible side effects, because over a long period of time, these changes in our food may bring negative biological changes to future generations. With the unprecedented growth that we have seen in our world’s population we have had to find innovative ways to feed more people. Some of these innovations include modifying natural produce to grow more efficiently. The first time this has been done was in ancient China When farmers were trying to find a way to reduce the amount of pest infestation. They successfully created a variation of the soy plant that would naturally repel certain insects, giving birth to the first genetically modified organism or GMO as it is referred to today. This would lead to a better yield of crops at the end of the harvesting season (Seeds). With more harvested goods, they could feed more people. Logically, this is a positive advancement for the chinese farmers, however, this desire for increased efficiency would later be driven by greed. Over ninety-three percent of corn crops use GMO seeds. The companies that produce these seeds need to have much more strict regulations, because …show more content…
Of the companies that produce GMO seeds, Monsanto is the one that comes out in the media most often. Other companies, such as DuPont, Bayer, and Syngenta also create a wide variety of GMOs. Monsanto is responsible for the creation of Round-Up, a chemical that is sprayed on fields to kill weeds. We all know we should wash our newly acquired produce before eating it, however, Monsanto hasn’t given us that option with their Round-Up counterpart, Round-Up Ready corn seed. This seed is sold to farmers every growing season and is able to ensure that the plant is not harmed by the effects of Round-Up. The modified corn has another miraculous piece of technology; it has a pesticide built in. This pesticide is known as the BT toxin and causes an insects stomach to burst if the seed is digested. Monsanto brings in large profits from selling seeds to the farmers that grow corn and other GMO crops, and without strict regulations, Monsanto has developed sort of a revolving door policy with the USDA, FDA, and EPA. Michael Taylor, a former Monsanto lawyer and current FDA official is very familiar with building these kind of conflicts of interest. It’s no surprise that Monsanto can do what they’ve done to these crops and to the farmers that grow them when they have multiple former executives calling the shots at the various government agencies. We need to avoid these conflicts of interest, because bad policies