I have been hearing about how GMOs are "bad," "killing people," and just plain "unnatural." I disagree. Vandana Shiva recently came to speak at Drake University, and she is completely muddling the facts to meet her agenda. So here's the truth.
GMOs do not harm the environment. Ms. Shiva demands that GMOs are killing off the environment merely for profit. However, genetically modified organisms help reduce erosion, the spread of greenhouse gases, and the use of pesticides. GMOs are not, in fact, harming the environment, but working towards a more sustainable food industry.
Ms. Shiva also states that the only reason GMOs exist is to create a patent and make money. This is so far from the truth that my heart hurts. Genetically modified organisms are being produced to reach sustainable farming and feed the rapidly growing world population. In fact, in the next 50 years, farmers will need to produce more food than they have in the entire history of agriculture. To claim that farmers are not interested in anything but money is absurd and, to be honest, disrespectful. My family is in the farming business and there are a lot more careers out there that would allow us to make more money, but we are interested in feeding the world. To state that farmers only worry about money is biting the hand that is feeding you.
The final straw, is when Ms. Shiva states that GMOs are killing farmers. Just because farmers commit suicide, does not mean Monsanto and GMOs are the reason. Suicide come from a variety of stressors, and chances are that many of these farmers have other issues than GMOs. So do not use this statistic of suicide to aid your absurd argument that GMOs are the primary reason farmers are dying.
The truth is, GMOs are the most highly tested food on the market and are not some bizarre, Frankenstein concoction. For the past 12,000 years, farmers have been genetically modifying plants through careful breeding and cross pollination to get the traits they want. Because they did not have the scientific and technological advancements necessary to create this change in a lab, it is not seen as "modified." GMOs must go through extensive testing from the USDA, FDA, and EPA in order to make it into the marketplace. To claim that GMOs are "unsafe" and "bad for people" is both false and thoroughly offensive.
GMOs are the forefront of feeding the world. Not through contamination, but through improving the crop to create higher yields at a lower cost.
Ms. Shiva, you are entitled to your opinion, but please have all the facts before your go attacking the farmers and people trying to feed you and the world.
