ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT:
Direct Environmental Impacts
GMOs environmental record demonstrates that they are highly likely to have a deleterious effect on long-term food supplies because they are already damaging the environment. U.N. scientist Olivier De Schutter has discovered that the production of genetically modified grain seeds—for corn, soybeans, rice and other staple crops—has eliminated 75% or more of the wild species of these grains (Schutter “Seed Policies”). A disease that destroys the dominant variety of corn or rice would cripple world food supplies. An analogous study was conducted by William Muir in 2002. When a new transgene is introduced into a wild fish population, he determined, it propagates and may eventually threaten the …show more content…
The development of GMOs has fostered an unregulated international trade GMO seeds that will lead to international conflict. According to Moonsook Park of Indiana University, in 2012 South Korea imported 7.84 million tons of GMOs from the US, which is equivalent to 2.67 billion dollars (source needed). The countries from which South Korea imports GMOs vary from the U.S. to Brazil, to Argentina, and many more. Both developed countries and developing countries are participating in GMO development and GMO trade, and it is predicted that GMO development and trade will continue to grow. This continued development and trade of GMOs will ultimately lead to many conflicts and disputes between countries based on each country’s own interests. More critically, GMOs are enhancing the divide between the economies of first world and developing countries. Profits flow to the countries in which agribusinesses are situated and away from those who become dependent upon their products. Nations such as the United States are benefiting from this flow of resources, but nations dependent on farming as a main source of food such as Thailand are suffering because of …show more content…
The Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations has issued a report that the global population will grow from 7.1 billion to 9.1 billion by 2050, which means that food production needs to rise by 70% in the same timeframe (“FAO Says”). The Affirmative tells us that in the face of such pressing needs, GMOs have become essential. Monsanto, Dupont, and the world’s agribusiness giants would surely agree. But our experience with GMOs and their corporate parents tell us that genetically modified foodstuffs are neither necessary nor desirable solutions. Long-term food security depends upon a biodiverse world, rich in healthy foodstuffs, with farmers who are sufficiently economically secure that they can make good decisions on the behalf of all of us that eat their food. Science has a role to play, but we have seen that science is most effective when it partners with nature in selective breeding and when technologies preserve our options for future cultivation rather than foreclosing them. GMOs offer gains to few and risks and costs for the majority. The Negative urges you to stand with the hungry, the farmers, and the healthy planet that your grandchildren deserve. The resolution must be
Direct Environmental Impacts
GMOs environmental record demonstrates that they are highly likely to have a deleterious effect on long-term food supplies because they are already damaging the environment. U.N. scientist Olivier De Schutter has discovered that the production of genetically modified grain seeds—for corn, soybeans, rice and other staple crops—has eliminated 75% or more of the wild species of these grains (Schutter “Seed Policies”). A disease that destroys the dominant variety of corn or rice would cripple world food supplies. An analogous study was conducted by William Muir in 2002. When a new transgene is introduced into a wild fish population, he determined, it propagates and may eventually threaten the …show more content…
The development of GMOs has fostered an unregulated international trade GMO seeds that will lead to international conflict. According to Moonsook Park of Indiana University, in 2012 South Korea imported 7.84 million tons of GMOs from the US, which is equivalent to 2.67 billion dollars (source needed). The countries from which South Korea imports GMOs vary from the U.S. to Brazil, to Argentina, and many more. Both developed countries and developing countries are participating in GMO development and GMO trade, and it is predicted that GMO development and trade will continue to grow. This continued development and trade of GMOs will ultimately lead to many conflicts and disputes between countries based on each country’s own interests. More critically, GMOs are enhancing the divide between the economies of first world and developing countries. Profits flow to the countries in which agribusinesses are situated and away from those who become dependent upon their products. Nations such as the United States are benefiting from this flow of resources, but nations dependent on farming as a main source of food such as Thailand are suffering because of …show more content…
The Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations has issued a report that the global population will grow from 7.1 billion to 9.1 billion by 2050, which means that food production needs to rise by 70% in the same timeframe (“FAO Says”). The Affirmative tells us that in the face of such pressing needs, GMOs have become essential. Monsanto, Dupont, and the world’s agribusiness giants would surely agree. But our experience with GMOs and their corporate parents tell us that genetically modified foodstuffs are neither necessary nor desirable solutions. Long-term food security depends upon a biodiverse world, rich in healthy foodstuffs, with farmers who are sufficiently economically secure that they can make good decisions on the behalf of all of us that eat their food. Science has a role to play, but we have seen that science is most effective when it partners with nature in selective breeding and when technologies preserve our options for future cultivation rather than foreclosing them. GMOs offer gains to few and risks and costs for the majority. The Negative urges you to stand with the hungry, the farmers, and the healthy planet that your grandchildren deserve. The resolution must be