Genetically Modified Organisms, most commonly known as GMOs, have been an extremely controversial subject since their rise in popularity among commercial farmers. These GMOs have created various social, economic, and cultural issues within the US and Europe. As defined by the Non GMO Project, a GMO “is a plant, animal, microorganism or other organism whose genetic makeup has been modified in a laboratory using genetic engineering or transgenic technology. This creates combinations of plant, animal, bacterial and virus genes that do not occur in nature or through traditional cross breeding methods (Non GMO Project, 2).” Farmers have been modifying crops for a long time to make their produce more satisfactory, however, when the switch occured
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Due to nature’s powerful fertilization powers, when GMOs are present in the farming industry, it becomes impossible to wipe out all GMOs. If an organic farm is contaminated with GMO seeds, the farmer suffers from having impure crops and thus experiences an immense economic loss. This concept of cross pollination between crops is a huge liability and occurs constantly during the usage of GMOs. Further, there have been significant connections between GMOs and the decrease of the monarch butterfly population: “The explosion in glyphosate use has killed off the milkweed plants where monarchs lay their eggs... the dwindling monarch population is “predominantly attributed” to the loss of milkweed breeding habitat (Cassidy).” This “glyphosate”, is a weed killer used on crops with GMOs and is immensely hurting the monarch butterfly population as they are not able to lay their eggs on the milkweed plant. One would assume that plants with GMOs would no longer require herbicides since they can be scientifically modified, however, on the contrary these GMO plants are becoming herbicide resistant, requiring even stronger cheIt is not only crops that are being negatively affected by GMOs but also wildlife that requires nature to survive. GMOs are throwing off the balance of nature by disrupting its natural cycle and relationships between
Due to nature’s powerful fertilization powers, when GMOs are present in the farming industry, it becomes impossible to wipe out all GMOs. If an organic farm is contaminated with GMO seeds, the farmer suffers from having impure crops and thus experiences an immense economic loss. This concept of cross pollination between crops is a huge liability and occurs constantly during the usage of GMOs. Further, there have been significant connections between GMOs and the decrease of the monarch butterfly population: “The explosion in glyphosate use has killed off the milkweed plants where monarchs lay their eggs... the dwindling monarch population is “predominantly attributed” to the loss of milkweed breeding habitat (Cassidy).” This “glyphosate”, is a weed killer used on crops with GMOs and is immensely hurting the monarch butterfly population as they are not able to lay their eggs on the milkweed plant. One would assume that plants with GMOs would no longer require herbicides since they can be scientifically modified, however, on the contrary these GMO plants are becoming herbicide resistant, requiring even stronger cheIt is not only crops that are being negatively affected by GMOs but also wildlife that requires nature to survive. GMOs are throwing off the balance of nature by disrupting its natural cycle and relationships between