Writing Prompt (Content Research)

Demonstrate through previous research studies the proper usage of writing style and grammar strengthening the ability to find content relative to the subject of interest and relay this specific content for easy comprehension.

Emani Booker

Professor Myzskowski

English 1101

27 November 2022

Are Genetically Modified Crops Safe?

A spicy deluxe chicken sandwich purchased from a refrigerated vending machine for factory workers contains soybean oil, corn syrup solids, and chemical food additives such as maltodextrin, ferrous sulfate, and cyanocobalamin. Many of these ingredients found in processed foods are bioengineered through laboratories and proven to be harmful through human consumption. The daily ingestion of these bioengineered chemicals foreign to the human body and in nature can cause disruptions in genetic code and could possibly lead to death. The ingredients in most “junk food”, as in the spicy chicken sandwich, derive from genetically modified (GM) crops such as the soybean, corn stalk, and potato which are marked safe for human consumption, but also qualify as potentially dangerous and a risk for human health. As the list of GM ingredients steadily increases, GM engineers and scientists are constantly developing new techniques using organisms to craft the production of proteins, amino acids, and modified vitamins altering the DNA sequences of plants to accommodate these specific enhancements.  Although genetically modified crops have been specially engineered to produce vegetables with extra vitamins or fruits containing important vaccines and antibiotics, interfering with the genes of plants could disturb entire ecosystems resulting in unintended environmental and human health consequences.

As it may seem ordinary buying lunch every day from the chicken hut place or the philly-sub pizza parlor, the percentage of U.S. citizens that are sick due to the lack of maintaining a healthy balance of exercise and diet is slowly increasing. Recent statistics show that “sixty-four percent of the American population is overweight, over fifty percent of Americans have chronic digestive disorders, and fifty percent of Americans die from heart disease” (Whitaker 50). While there are many contributing factors of poor health leading to the consequences of a negative prognosis, a thorough examination of the food ingested is a serious matter of concern that undeniably coexists. Genetically modified organisms (bacteria), the hosts for mass production of DNA altered plants, are responsible for gene extraction and insertion into the desired plant species for specific enhancements such as added proteins and drought resistance. The first genetically altered plant was developed in 1983 by the Mexican scientist, Luis Herrera-Estrella. Ten years later, GM crops are approved for human consumption which only provides a small increment of time for knowledgeable feedback. Currently, millions of acres of land are occupied by these modified crops, and yet many of the country’s citizens just blindly “grab and go” at supermarkets. With new technological advancements and more plant-based scientific research, GM crops have evolved into producing a wide-variety of desirable implications and this has led to the creation of more modified ingredients and preservative chemicals to increase the shelf-life of many food products. GM crops can be found in almost all processed foods, especially fast foods; and the more people disregard the chemical ingredients and mutations drawn from these crops, the more detrimental health issues could be in the future.

Monosodium glutamate, a bioengineered food additive made from GM crops such as corn and sugar beets, can be used to enhance the flavor of restaurant meats, deli meats, and other meat products meaning that any clustering of animal flesh can be made appealing to the sense of taste. As Dr. Scott Whitaker, ND and Jose Fleming, CN, MH, mention in the book titled MediSin, “Chemical engineers of the food industry can make anything taste like anything without providing any nutritional value including those chemicals unheard of that can be detrimental to human health” (31). While the experimentation with organisms and plants’ genes continues to occur, the consumption of these bioengineered chemicals daily can cause mutations through chromosome damage called mutagens which ultimately affects genetic code. Over time, from the duration of chemicals corrupting the cells, the body becomes excessively toxic leading to cancers and disease. While it deems worthy for more GM crops to be made more nutritiously with extra vitamins and minerals, these same crops are used adversely as the main culprits in thousands of chemicals to preserve, texturize, and enhance many of the foods and beverages marked safe for human consumption. As a result, an increasing number of citizens end up in hospital rooms due to high blood pressure, diabetes, heart failure and the like.

Monsanto Co., a large agricultural biotechnology company, is responsible for crafting the first genetically modified soybean irresistible to the main ingredient in Round-up herbicide. Originally, Monsanto Co. was a manufacturer of saccharine, an artificial sweetener now banned in many countries due to it being made from coal tar, and now has involved into an agricultural chemical company acquiring millions of acres of land for the purpose of planting GM crops. As of today, “Roughly one-hundred twenty million acres of GM crops are found in the U.S. alone with nearly ninety percent being GM soy, canola, and cotton in which Monsanto owns a significant portion” (“Genetically Modified Food”). While these major biotech corporations such as Monsanto and DuPont only visualize methods to monopolize the agricultural business and maximize their profits, more people become sick, especially young children who are vulnerable to over usage of pesticides and herbicides designed to eliminate insects that attack valuable produce. In addition to the skepticism of GM vegetation that could cause mutations in human DNA, the overuse of pesticides and herbicides now takes effect because of the insects increasing their resistance to chemicals. Unfortunately, there is proof showing that the increased output of harmful chemicals provides health hazards for commercial farmers: “A National Cancer Institute study found that farmers exposed to pesticides and herbicides had six times more risk of contracting cancer than the average person” (Whitaker 53). With all the dangerous accommodations of chemically bathing crops paired with their skeptical modifications, there’s no stopping a mutational outbreak of the millions of GM crops already planted across the country!

The human body needs fruits and vegetables that are grown, cultivated, and timely harvested from vital rich soil, which provide the body with enzymes, co-factors (organic compounds), antioxidants, and trace minerals. Organic farmers who participate in organic farming procedures would agree stating that, growing near commercial GM crops, “they fear their own crops-most viable for human consumption-could become contaminated by altered genes effectively ruining their plants’ organic status” (“Genetically Modified Food”). Those who embrace the textures, tastes, and the just the raw implications of freshly grown produce without the use of pesticides, insecticides, and mutations of plant DNA praise their organic farmers at local farmer’s markets for growing produce in the most natural ways. The supporters of non-GMO crops say the technology is still too new and untested to be so prevalent in the marketplace as the altering of an organisms’ genes is in no way an update of nature. Any unintended side effects that may develop because of these modified genes would become a part of the landscape for good. In a conducted experiment, that included a strain of Monsanto’s Roundup Ready grass, spread its genetically altered pollen into fields as far as thirteen miles away. This creates a huge barrier amongst organic farmers who would rather enjoy producing healthy, safe food using environmentally responsible growing techniques.

Advocates of genetically modified crops argue that they can be used to eliminate world hunger due to poverty and provide adequate supply and nutrition for the populations of developing countries. This may be true to a certain extent. However, poverty, not the lack of food production, is the root cause of world hunger; and GM crops are not a “panacea” for world hunger when there are a multitude of agroecological procedures to produce healthy food locally for consumption locally. As a prime example, a recent United Nations report showed that “eco-farming increased average crop yields by about eighty percent in fifty-seven countries in the last decade” (Helke 13). This means the soil, water, and air of those countries that have inherited agroecological farming practices are better suited for growing healthier produce surpassing the skepticism of GM crops with added vitamins and minerals. Pertaining to the modification of crops: “If GM food corporations truly cared about aiding the developing world, they would create GM foods more suitable for growing in warmer climates, such as cassava, millet, and sorghum” (“Genetically Modified Food”). As more of a viable solution, introduction of ecological farming practices opens gateways to sustainable living and provides an opportunity for impoverished people to support themselves and their families. As a token, the crops they produce locally, by the sharing of traditional growing procedures for cultivating the land, eliminates the harmful toxicity of pesticides that zap vital nutrients of the soil, and the benefits will be made available to those impoverished agricultural workers and their families.

While GM crops are constantly being manipulated to satisfy specific health parameters such as increasing the proteins, amino-acids, and minerals in certain crops, the risks remain in human consumption as this new technology makes its debut. It can raise concern especially when there is proof of linkage between products and ingredients derived from GM grown vegetation that can lead to cell deformations ultimately leading to brain, liver, and kidney diseases. With the percentage of people overweight, at risk of heart attack and stroke, and cancer victims, the question becomes “Are GM crops deceiving?”. How can someone decipher the results of consuming GM crop derived ingredients with no symptoms or subtle changes in health? It would have to show countenance much later in life when it is difficult to get rid of these major accumulations of toxins. As a relief and for better health in the future, “there are steps to fill the dinner plate with truly natural foods that do not contain genetically modified ingredients” (Vawter). Just from interpreting some of the research from the book MediSin, deters my actions of buying a chemical stuffed sandwich that has potential to alter cell formations in my body. To live a long, healthy, and prosperous life, one should pay attention to what is being consumed daily.

        

Works Cited

Ferrie, Helke. “Evidence Grows of Harmful Effects of GMOs on Human Health.” CCPA Monitor, vol. 18, no. 5, Oct. 2011, pp. 12–13. EBSCOhost, https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,shib&db=a9h&AN=67073800&site=eds-live&scope=site.

“Genetically Modified Food.” Issues & Controversies, Infobase, 22 July 2005, icof.infobase.com/articles/QXJ0aWNsZVRleHQ6MTYwNzg=. Accessed 24 Nov. 2022.

Vawter, Reed. "Genetically Modified Foods - What's on Your Plate?" Harvard Medical School Commentaries on Health, edited by Harvard Health Publications, 1st edition, 2019. Credo Reference, https://go.openathens.net/redirector/chattahoocheetech.edu url=https%3A%2F%2Fsearch.credoreference.com%2Fcontent%2Fentry%2Fhhphoh%2Fgenet cally_modified_foods_what_s_on_your_plate%2F0%3FinstitutionId%3D3554. Accessed 27 Nov. 2022.

Whitaker, Scott Dr. ND and Jose Fleming CN, MH. MediSin, edited by Yisrael Chayah and Sister Gayle. Divine Protection Publications DPP, 2005, pp 25-55.