Should We Alter Our Food

Food is one of the most basic needs of a human to survive. We must eat for our bodies to produce energy for us to burn. Since we have made great advancements in technology we have been able to look toward our food and make advancements there as well. People are changing what they eat together and making more diverse recipes. Part of that means that food has to be available for consumption. These days the need for food has increased because of population increase and because of its use. So how might one grow corn year round for consumption, or how can we grow orange trees that produce bigger sweeter oranges more often and in greater numbers. Well the answer lies in genetics. Scientist have found a way to genetically alter our food so that it …show more content…
A genetically modified organism is one that has been altered in a way to help maximize what that organism produces. For instance if we could only harvest corn 4 months out of the year because of how long it takes to mature and because of when it is seasonally available we might look at altering it genetically so that it can grow and mature at a faster rate and grow during different parts of the season. So know we have corn that is available more often. A simple way to explain how a GMO is created is, “genes are cut from plants or animals that have a desired trait, and then pasted into plants or animals at precise locations to create a desired beneficial effect.” (Penn State » Ag Sciences » Ag Science Magazine » All Articles » 2015 » Spring/Summer 2015 » The Science of GMOs) in this example we know that GMO’s seem basic in construction. Borrowing traits from one to make another better. However genetics is not a simple science. While mixing genes may seem good at first we can’t be sure what kind of effect it will have on other things such as the environment and on people who later consume those foods. One such example of an altered organism was one referred to as the roundup ready crop. These plants were altered in such a way to be resistant to the active ingredient in round up weed killer. The idea behind this is that if the crop itself is resistant to …show more content…
We only have to worry about these risks in GE crops right. Well this is true and untrue. The growth and development of the super weed not only concerns farmers but also everyone around as well. if these super weeds grow outside of farms they will be harder to kill in the areas outside of crops and may pose an issue. And most of what is being grown today is a GE crop (genetically engineered.) “Since the introduction of GM crops in 1996, farmers have adopted the technologies widely. In 2014, around the globe, nearly 500 million acres of biotech crops were grown in 28 countries (James, C. 2014. Global Status of Commercialized Biotech/GM Crops: 2014. ISAAA Brief No. 49. ISAAA: Ithaca, NY.). “That’s at least 15 million acres more than were grown in 2013.” (Penn State » Ag Sciences » Ag Science Magazine » All Articles » 2015 » Spring/Summer 2015 » The Science of GMOs) So it not as simple as just trying to avoid GM foods altogether because they would be hard to avoid. It is very likely that most of the food you eat is modified and you just do not know it. Some of the most widely used modified foods include corn, corn used as an ingredient to make corn syrup and a lot of foods that use oil such as olive or vegetable oil. Ge foods can be found in restaurants that fry foods. To try and avoid these foods all together would be tough but several companies are vowing to stop the use of GE foods and ingredients in their