An Hankering for Food
Everyday nearly 795 million people go hungry, that is about one in nine people worldwide. Even though enough food is produced across the world to feed the estimated 7.4 billion population, people are still going to bed hungry. As the population of Earth reaches approximately 9 billion people by 2050 the question of feeding 9 billion arises. If 795 million people go malnourished everyday feeding 9 billion will be a tough task. One solution is Increased research into plants. By genetically modifying plants to not only grow in harsh drought stricken climates, but yield more, hunger can be dramatically decreased. Another solution are school meal programs. “Two Minutes to Learn about School Meals”, a document by the World …show more content…
What makes a plant genetically modified or an GMO? “Genetically engineered foods have had foreign genes (genes from other plants or animals) inserted into their genetic codes”(UMM). These new genes help to bolster a plant 's yield, increase shelf life, or survive in harsher climates. These changes are needed as earth’s climate is continually changing. As the population of Earth continues to grow exponentially less water and productive lands are available for farming. This is causing billions of crops to go unused every year. These crops are leaving millions of farmers and consumers malnourished and without adequate food. By changing specific genes such as the “LEA genes, PMA1959 (encoding group one of LEA protein) and PMA80 (encoding LEA protein 's second group) improved water deficit resistance in rice”(ncbi) allowing for farmers in drought prone countries to continue produce food without an abundance of water. Feeding a growing population will also require the need of more production from developing countries. By genetically modifying plants such as wheat and corn to produce higher yields farmers crop totals can be increased. David Zilberman a agriculture and resource economics professor at UC Berkeley suggests that the “greatest potential for yield gains from genetically engineered seeds exist in places with high pest pressure and little access to alternative damage control—that is,
Everyday nearly 795 million people go hungry, that is about one in nine people worldwide. Even though enough food is produced across the world to feed the estimated 7.4 billion population, people are still going to bed hungry. As the population of Earth reaches approximately 9 billion people by 2050 the question of feeding 9 billion arises. If 795 million people go malnourished everyday feeding 9 billion will be a tough task. One solution is Increased research into plants. By genetically modifying plants to not only grow in harsh drought stricken climates, but yield more, hunger can be dramatically decreased. Another solution are school meal programs. “Two Minutes to Learn about School Meals”, a document by the World …show more content…
What makes a plant genetically modified or an GMO? “Genetically engineered foods have had foreign genes (genes from other plants or animals) inserted into their genetic codes”(UMM). These new genes help to bolster a plant 's yield, increase shelf life, or survive in harsher climates. These changes are needed as earth’s climate is continually changing. As the population of Earth continues to grow exponentially less water and productive lands are available for farming. This is causing billions of crops to go unused every year. These crops are leaving millions of farmers and consumers malnourished and without adequate food. By changing specific genes such as the “LEA genes, PMA1959 (encoding group one of LEA protein) and PMA80 (encoding LEA protein 's second group) improved water deficit resistance in rice”(ncbi) allowing for farmers in drought prone countries to continue produce food without an abundance of water. Feeding a growing population will also require the need of more production from developing countries. By genetically modifying plants such as wheat and corn to produce higher yields farmers crop totals can be increased. David Zilberman a agriculture and resource economics professor at UC Berkeley suggests that the “greatest potential for yield gains from genetically engineered seeds exist in places with high pest pressure and little access to alternative damage control—that is,