In America, genetically modified foods have become the norm when it comes to our culinary culture. Genetic modification acquires the use of bacteria or a virus to help organisms grow into artificial amounts of food. A gene from the bacteria and virus is inserted into the organism where it would normally not be found causing the genetic code to be altered in plants and animals. This technique has caused America to have a massive livestock of foods that are delivered to stores to be sold for people to buy. Many times, the foods that are shipped aren’t even fully developed. For instance, tomatoes would be artificially dyed red to appear luscious and ripped when in reality they’re not. Typically, genetically modified foods are unnatural, unregulated by the government, and aren’t labeled which prohibits people to know whether or not they are consuming genetically modified foods. Genetically modified foods contain numerous amounts of unnatural grown ingredients that are prompted by using unnatural remedies. Common uses of genetic modified foods include the following: soybeans, maize, cotton, and rapeseed oil. Many foods in America contain field corn or an unhealthy high level of high-fructose corn syrup. These ingredients are found in many consumers‟ favorite cereals, snacks, and junk food. Even babies consume unnatural ingredients because many of their foods contain soybean. Farmers would inject their chickens, cows, pigs, etc with steroids to make them bigger in order to produce the desired product. This method will usually make the animals deform because only sections of their body will be injected. For example, a chicken wouldn’t be able to walk because its legs are huge; therefore, making it hard to walk due to the heaviness of their drumsticks. Thus, the animals will suffer enormously and in many cases they die because of the pain.
Collectively, consumers are unaware that they‟re consuming unregulated genetically modified food because food packaging contains no label indicating that it has been genetically modified. The food sold in America does not contain a warning label that indicates whether the product has been genetically modified. Therefore, many consumers are ignorant to the fact that their food has even been genetically modified. Counties such as China, Russia, Japan, and Brazil passed legislation – Regulations on Administration of Agricultural of genetically modified organisms‟ safety- where it is proposed that food packaging must contain a sticker indicating whether or not the product has been modified. In fact, the FDA, EPA, and USDA all regulate different aspects of the genetic modified food; thus, they aren‟t aware of the final food product‟s condition. The FDA regulates the plant and tests to see if the plant is eatable.
In fact, Dan Quayle‟s 1992 policy regarding genetically engineered crops was rapidly refuted by the FDA‟s scientists, stating that genetically engineered crops are „substantially equivalent‟ to regular crops; hence, they don‟t have to be labeled or safety tested. Meanwhile, the EPA regulates the genetic modified plants and tests to see if it‟s environmentally safe. Lastly, the USDA regulates the plant and its healthiness to see if it‟s safe to grow. Therefore if genetically engineered foods aren‟t fully regulated by the agencies, shouldn‟t they at least be labeled to let consumers know that the food contains genetically modified organism? In California alone, Proposition 37, which was about food labeling, was proposed in 2012 but it didn‟t pass. The final tally of votes as certified by California‟s Secretary of State was 6, 088,714 in favor of Proposition 37 and 6,442,371 against.
I couldn‟t vote then but if I could, I would have voted although my vote wouldn‟t change the outcome. Thus, I was seemingly exposed to the truth when learning about genetically modified foods. I have never been a person who thought about the food‟s ingredients. I simply ate what was available and around me. My diet has changed- albeit, not dramatically. Growing up, I wasn‟t aware of organic foods vs. non- organic foods and I didn‟t know the difference; for, I didn‟t know why some foods were labeled organic and others weren‟t. My father grew up on a Kentucky farm so he was exp osed to organic fruits and vegetables since his family grew them. Thus, every time I went to a market with him, he would exclaim, “fruits and vegetables don‟t taste like those of home.” I never understood him until now.
After reading about the potential dangers about genetically modified foods, I have looked into shopping at my local farmer‟s market for fresh products. It‟s somewhat icky to think about how cows, chickens, and other animals are injected with hormones; hence, I‟m consuming an unhealthy hormonal animal. However, my diet still consists of eating from foods that have modified but I‟m slowly transitioning to eating more organic foods. The taste of organic foods are actually more tasteful than non-organic foods after all. Moreover, I learned about genetically modified foods by researching Pasadena City College own library databases. Upon there, I came across the Union of Concerned Scientists website. This website is deemed reliable because it utilizes respected known researchers from all around the world; thus, UCSUSA collaborates with them to inform citizens. UCSUSA‟s mission is to engage policymakers, media, and other organizations in favor of reaching their full potential in the work they publish. Thus, Union of Concerned Scientists analyses on topics are relevant to today‟s occurrences in society, technology, and medicine. The concerned scientists consist of experts whom are respected by Washington, DC and state capitals. These scientists are frequently called to testify before government committees. Lastly, I found this website to be immensely reliable because it is a nonprofit organization that deals with independent scientific analysis by incorporating reliable sources.
