GMO Myths Persist

Despite the strong scientific, economic and humanitarian arguments in their favor, some individuals and organizations continue to spread a fear of genetically modified foods. Look up “GMO Warnings” to get a list of websites spreading the gospel.

This one is representative, promoting a book by an anti-GMO author. “In a study in the early 1990's rats were [force-]fed genetically modified (GM) tomatoes…. Several of the rats developed stomach lesions and seven out of forty died within two weeks.” At the time “agency scientists warned that GM foods in general might create unpredicted allergies, toxins, antibiotic resistant diseases, and nutritional problems” (emphasis in the original).

What they fail to mention is that GMO tomatoes were never available to market. A little more than two years ago the Hunt Company was scorned for their “No GMOs in sight” marketing campaign. Hundreds of “consumers, farmers and scientists criticizing the company for fear mongering and pandering to ‘the superstitions of misinformed extremists.’” That Forbes article goes on to explain that all the food we eat is technically genetically modified from their ancestors, either by nature, by human selection, by crossbreeding or by genetic engineering. All such modification is capable of producing favorable or unfavorable, even dangerous characteristics. But we can’t be afraid of all food!

The economic and humanitarian arguments go hand in hand to some extent. As the population of the earth continues to increase, the need for food increases. The amount of land available to raise that food is not increasing. In fact more will be used for other activities like homes and highways for that growing population. For the past hundred years, the ability to keep up with population growth has come not by throwing more resources at it, but by using science and technology. GMO is just another option.

The latest effort comes from the University of Illinois as shown in this headline: “Scientists engineer shortcut for photosynthetic glitch, boost crop growth by 40 percent.” By making the photosynthetic process in plants, their ability to convert sunlight to energy, more efficient, the principal investigator believes, "We could feed up to 200 million additional people with the calories lost to photorespiration in the Midwestern U.S. each year."

But the people promoting their books, their websites and their products don’t seem to care about those 200 million going hungry. They are more than willing to promote and prey upon the fear of science among people who are not starving and who can be easily convinced to be unnecessarily fussy and fearful about food. It’s been going on for some time and has become even more intense using the speed and reach of the Internet along with the growing appetite for movements motivated to save ignorant neighbors by forcing change.

A second economic argument is that some of our favorite foods may be disappearing too rapidly to be saved by any means less efficient than genetic engineering. I wrote in March 2017 about the problems orange growers face with citrus greening.

There is also a concern about bananas. This article explains that the bananas we buy in the store are sterile and produced via cloning. They lack the genetic variation needed to develop immunity to pests or diseases. 

The need is clear; the science is clear. Without constant improvement in farming technology, the world will not be able to support current levels of population growth. Without genetic engineering people will starve. About 90% or more of cotton, corn, soybeans, and sugar beets are currently genetically modified. People die from food contamination, not from genetic engineering. 

 Meanwhile, entities like the Institute for Responsible Technology and several others seem to have teamed up with the marketing departments of major food companies to sustain the fear and to use that fear to sell us products under the false, unfounded and misguided assumption that we are doing what’s healthier and what’s right for our families.