In 1992, the United States Food and Drug Administration approved Calgene’s Favr Savr tomato, designed to remain firm for a longer period of time, hailing as the first commercially produced, Genetically Modified Food to sit on the market. Later on that year, the FDA declared genetically engineered foods “not inherently dangerous,” and that they do not need specialized regulation. In the past 24 years, genetically modified organisms have grown with increased technology and efficiency and today, GMOs make up 70-80% of the foods we eat. GMOs not only are heavily researched and funded, but also have numerous positive effects on the individual, economy, and environment. Some of these benefits include: keeping food affordable, feeding the world’s
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Currently with just over 7 billion people today, 1 in every 8 people are food insecure, meaning that they do not know when or where their next meal will come from. The growing population presents two main problems: with more people on planet earth, more land and resources will be used to provide housing and space for them, while in return more land and space will also be need to grow foods to feed the growing population. Possibly the most attractive characteristic of GMOs is the ability to do more, with less. Because the United States has began to urbanize more and more land to provide for the increase demand of housing, GMOs have been vital in still providing for the needs of people nationally and internationally. In addition, because other countries have fewer available options, their diets suffer from a lack of essential nutrients. For example, in many third world countries like India, the most detrimental deficiency is the lack of Vitamin A in their diets. This is common in countries where rice is the only staple crop available. Vitamin A deficiencies can eventually lead to vision impairedness and increased mortality due to weakened immune systems. Golden Rice has been one of most acclaimed success stories that GMOs have encountered. The Golden Rice Project works to produce seeds that have been genetically modified to have increased levels of Vitamin A, to work toward alleviating the deficiency …show more content…
One key focus that GMOs have is to reduce the amount of pesticides and water necessary to grow the crop efficiently and successfully. In a study that assessed the global and economic impacts of GMOs during the first 17 years of production (1996-2012), showed that the biotechnology has reduced pesticide use by 503 million kilograms and has reduced the environmental footprint associated with food production by 19%. This reduction of greenhouse gas is equivalent to removing 11.9 million cars off the road. In China, biotech cotton reduced pesticide use by 78,000 tons, also resulting in significantly reduced reports of pesticide poisoning of farmers. Globally, GM technology has reduced the use of insecticides to control bollworm by 96%. GMOs have facilitated the growth of herbicide tolerant crops, leading to adoption of no-till practices that save nearly 1 billion tons of soil per year. In the United States, biotech cotton has shown to have a positive impact on the number and diversity of beneficial insects in cotton fields. Because decreasing biodiversity is a growing problem globally, GMOs have been playing a large role in increasing biodiversity in crop lands. Before put on the market GM crop seeds are thoroughly assessed for any possible negative impacts on the environment. The assessment includes, impact on non-target organisms in the environment, whether the modified crop
Currently with just over 7 billion people today, 1 in every 8 people are food insecure, meaning that they do not know when or where their next meal will come from. The growing population presents two main problems: with more people on planet earth, more land and resources will be used to provide housing and space for them, while in return more land and space will also be need to grow foods to feed the growing population. Possibly the most attractive characteristic of GMOs is the ability to do more, with less. Because the United States has began to urbanize more and more land to provide for the increase demand of housing, GMOs have been vital in still providing for the needs of people nationally and internationally. In addition, because other countries have fewer available options, their diets suffer from a lack of essential nutrients. For example, in many third world countries like India, the most detrimental deficiency is the lack of Vitamin A in their diets. This is common in countries where rice is the only staple crop available. Vitamin A deficiencies can eventually lead to vision impairedness and increased mortality due to weakened immune systems. Golden Rice has been one of most acclaimed success stories that GMOs have encountered. The Golden Rice Project works to produce seeds that have been genetically modified to have increased levels of Vitamin A, to work toward alleviating the deficiency …show more content…
One key focus that GMOs have is to reduce the amount of pesticides and water necessary to grow the crop efficiently and successfully. In a study that assessed the global and economic impacts of GMOs during the first 17 years of production (1996-2012), showed that the biotechnology has reduced pesticide use by 503 million kilograms and has reduced the environmental footprint associated with food production by 19%. This reduction of greenhouse gas is equivalent to removing 11.9 million cars off the road. In China, biotech cotton reduced pesticide use by 78,000 tons, also resulting in significantly reduced reports of pesticide poisoning of farmers. Globally, GM technology has reduced the use of insecticides to control bollworm by 96%. GMOs have facilitated the growth of herbicide tolerant crops, leading to adoption of no-till practices that save nearly 1 billion tons of soil per year. In the United States, biotech cotton has shown to have a positive impact on the number and diversity of beneficial insects in cotton fields. Because decreasing biodiversity is a growing problem globally, GMOs have been playing a large role in increasing biodiversity in crop lands. Before put on the market GM crop seeds are thoroughly assessed for any possible negative impacts on the environment. The assessment includes, impact on non-target organisms in the environment, whether the modified crop