RAHHH!! At least, that’s what I’d imagine my strawberry would yell at me if it had a mouth, fangs, and fins in which case it would have to be renamed the ‘fishberry’. I’m a fan of trying new foods in moderation, but there are certain lines that I will draw; a fish-fruit hybrid thing is one of these lines.
The reason that the fishberry was conceptualized was because scientists wanted to make strawberries more resistant to the weather. They attempted this by transplanting fish glycoproteins which lower the freezing points of the organisms in which they’re found, into strawberries. Fear not, the ‘fishberry’ doesn’t actually exist. But, other food products like it (albeit much less sensational), where scientists take a naturally occurring product and combine it with genes from other products to make it hardier, larger, and/or tastier, do exist. These products are grouped together under the general umbrella of Genetically Modified Foods or Organisms (GMOs). Now, I understand the need for humans to constantly outdo themselves, and improve upon what nature has already given them; it’s within our very nature to discover and learn, but I always question: How do we know when we’ve gone too far, and will it be too late to turn back?
I’ve been interested in GMOs since my middle-school days. There’s just something about them that’s at the same time supremely fascinating, and utterly revolting. Having taken a food insecurity course just last semester, I’ve gained new respect for GMOs and the part they play in aiding food insecurity around the world. Creating stronger, more weather resistant plants will obviously be beneficial to farmers whose livelihoods depend on the crops they produce each year. The saying, ‘give a man a fish, feed him for a day; teach a man to fish, and feed him for a lifetime’ fits this situation well. Giving farmers seeds which are modified increase the crop’s chances of survival, thereby increasing the chances of sustainability for these farmers. Now, while this may seem like an idyllic situation for all - the good, prosperous West provides the impoverished with genetically modified ‘super’ seeds, and it’s happily ever after for everyone – in reality there are many layers to the debate about GMOs.
The first issue that springs to mind is that of environmental integrity. Since GMO foods are scientifically altered so that they contain ‘alien’ genes, this increases the chances of cross-contamination tenfold. There are no ways currently to control cross-pollination in open fields. That being said, what is to stop the hypothetical fishberry from ‘mating’ with a neighbouring crop of wheat, and creating the Whishberry? Although this is purely fictional, there are many implications of cross-pollination. The main one being allergies. Since we know that proteins are the major cause of allergies, genetic modification could have disastrous effects if people with allergies unknowingly ate food they thought was ‘allowed’, but which actually contained proteins from another organism. What concerns me is that these genetically modified crops also have the potential to be introduced into the wild and thereby interact with ‘natural’ populations of the same crop. This is worrisome because we’d be essentially messing with the integrity of nature.
Canada’s current labeling policy does not require food products to be labeled as genetically modified. Consumers have no idea if they’re eating food that’s been tampered with. I don’t recall the exact number off hand, but I remember being flabbergasted when I found out that the majority of food products currently available in the Canadian food market are genetically modified or contain genetically modified ingredients (ever find yourself wondering why strawberries get bigger and redder each year? I know I do). What really irritates me about GMO foods is not that they’re in our food system, but more so the fact that we, the public, were not aware of their introduction. I have not currently made up my mind about whether I think GMOs are a positive or negative (so addition (currently, I’m leaning towards negative) to our food system, but what I ask for, is the choice to make my own decision. Similar to the labeling of organic foods, I strongly believe that with their initial introduction, there should have been concurrent rules developed regarding appropriate labeling. I realize now, after my research that GMOs are a much more complex issue than organic foods. Some products will contain certain genetically modified ingredients, but in such small quantities that it may be inappropriate to label them as ‘genetically modified’. Or, that they may be processed in plants where other GMOs were processed; what are we to do in this situation, when a product may or may not have come into contact with GMOs? I think what bothers me the most is the uncertainty I feel. There really aren’t enough longitudinal studies done on the long term effects of GMO foods for me to feel safe and reassured. When on the WHO website I came across this:
“ … individual GM foods and their safety should be assessed on a case-by-case basis and that it is not possible to make general statements on the safety of all GM foods. ”
Er…so, what you’re basically telling me is that the food I’m eating may or may not be harmful to me? And, to add insult to injury, there’s a high likelihood that I won’t even know that I’m eating it. These are odds that I’m not comfortable with. Are you?
I think the WHO have a done a good job of summarizing some of the main information on GMOs. If you want more information, check out this link:
http://www.who.int/foodsafety/publications/biotech/20questions/en/index.html
Fascinating topic!! It's a bit of a David & Golith scenario with Monsanto being a VERY big player in the GM field.
ReplyDeleteAre you aware that these types of seeds must be repeatedly purchased from the seed company? They are not 'open pollinated', whereby seeds for the next year are created. So, providing GM seed to 3rd world country farmers does nothing to decrease their dependance on foreign aid - only increased it, as it increases the bottom line of the seed company.
Do you know the story of the Burbank potatoe? (used for McDonald fries because they are long & straight). A gene was spliced into the potatoe plant to make it resistant to the Colorado potatoe beetle. Win-win right? Decreases the need for tons & tons of pesticide. Once people learned that their fries came form genetically modified potatoes, there was an unroar, so much so, that the product was shelved (maybe for future re-intoduction),& 'regular' potatoes were planted again.
The European Union is a GM free zone & any GM type crops from Canada can't be sold there.
Obviously, there are more chapters on this topic to be written.