Transgenic maize

However, as of October 3, 2015 19 countries in Europe have banned the growing of genetically modified crops within their borders, targeting the only European GMO Monsanto’s maize corn MON 810 (Chow 2). Greenpeace’s food policy director Franziska Achterberg stated. “They don’t trust the E.U. (European Union) safety assessments and are rightly taking action to protect their agriculture and food.” The war against GMO in Europe…

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are currently sharing the responsibility of regulating agricultural biotechnology in the United States. According to the EPA web page (2015), the EPA uses five important fundamental principles as a guide to making decisions about their biotechnology regulatory program, they include, “Using sound science, ensuring transparency of the decision-making…

Cereal is a name derived from the Roman goddess, Ceres, meaning “to create” (Brown, 2015). The word cereal refers to all types of grains. Gramineae, are cereal grain seeds relative to the grass family. The grain kernel, or berry, is called the caryopsis; which is the edible part of the plant. Caryopses are individual kernels or grains found in all grasses (Brown, 2015). Each caryopsis contains a husk, bran, endosperm, and germ. A husk, also known as the chaff, is the protective outer layer of a…

Environmental degradation is a fact that has pervaded through every aspect of human life. But strangely enough, it is human beings who are responsible for such tragic environmental deteriorations. Human beings, through their peculiar habits and thoughtless actions have brought about dilemmas for themselves. It is the human actions which have put the environment and ecology in danger. But human beings have not taken any lessons from the environmental degradations as it seems because even today…

Genetically Modified Food Every human being requires food in order to stay alive. The food provides the body with the forces it needs to keep the heart beating, the limbs moving, and the lungs breathing. However, during the last century, scientists have been working in laboratories to create a new kind of food. This type of food is called genetically modified food. Genetically modified food comes from plants that have been altered in laboratories. This technology can be accomplished by moving…

Agency for Sanitary Surveillance is a federal agency that is responsible for overseeing the production and registration of drugs, food additives, medical devices, and tobacco and tobacco products (USDA 2005). The Ministry of Health is very similar to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), in the United States. The FDA is a federal agency that aims at protecting the health of consumers whether it is people or animals. Brazil is also looking at the labeling of genetically modified foods from…

There has been a recent debate on whether or not the green revolution should be revived. In Bourne’s article, “The End of Plenty” he discusses the green revolution refers to the research and development of technology that allowed for more than double of the average yields of corn, rice, and wheat to be produced between the 1950’s and 1990’s. Although at this time many of the hungry were fed, the green revolution still created problems environmentally. The green revolution is dangerous and should…

Rhetorical Analysis of GMO Articles In the report by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), “Genetically Engineered Crops: Report and Prospects,” Gould et al. provide logical appeals such as: scientific research, statistics, and other facts supporting the use of GMOs. In the article, Gould et al. disprove many common GMO misconceptions. Although no pathos is involved, this article provides reliable evidence and effectively argues the beneficial qualities of GMOs. The National Academy of…

In “The Threats from Genetically Modified Foods”, Robin Mather effectively brings awareness to the American public of the harmful side effects of genetically modified (GM) foods. She shares that genetically modified foods are foods with an altered genetic make-up. This alteration has lead them to be banned in several countries. However, in the United States, GM foods are not strictly regulated and, therefore, not required to be labeled. Also, the pesticides used in genetically modified foods…

The Dangers of Corn In Michael Pollan’s The Consumer- A Republic of Fat, he presents the reader with insight of two incidences involving the mass production of a single crop that resulted in an epidemic. The first example took place about two hundred years ago in America when corn whiskey became everyone’s go-to beverage. The second is the current obese status in America today, and the presumed cause behind it. Pollan shows how it can be a detriment to society to be able to mass-produce a crop.…