GMOs are benefical to society, don’t have many negatives

Within the last twenty years, genetically modified organisms, otherwise known as GMOs, have been at the forefront of the debate in the agricultural industry. The two largest groups that shun GMOs in the United States are small scale farmers who fear large corporations getting another advantage and a portion of the general population who do not fully understand the meaning of GMOs or their place in current society. While it is understandable for family farmers to fear GMOs due to large farm corporations, the general population has no reason to be fearful of GMOs in our society.  

Genetically modified organisms are plants, normally crops, that are have changes in their DNA code that causes them to have particular traits more suited to an environment or that will produce larger crops. These traits make crops more likely to survive and produce crops that will be useable for human consumption. The more crop production that is possible, the less likely it will be that a lack of food will cause the downfall of the human race. Being that a lack of food is a large concern through many people, having crops that are more reliable and adaptable to new environments will help to ensure that food production will be less of an issue.  

Many people concerned about genetically modified organisms claim that they have no been studied long enough to be deemed safe for humans. They believe that GMOs may pose risks to health that are yet to be identified. While this is generally a decent point, GMOs have been indirectly used in food products for hundreds of years. Selective breeding has existed within the agriculture field since nearly the beginning of agriculture. Selective breeding is choosing to breed two plants with desirable genes, such as a larger size or less of a need for water, to create an offspring that contains more of those traits and is therefore both larger and needs less water.  

Selective breeding is a form of genetic modification that is unreliable and does not create consistently beneficial crops.  Using some of the ideas from selective breeding to create a scientific way of creating better offspring is using the same idea as selective breeding but with better results. These better results can be the difference between plants surviving in the most food insecure areas in the world and to ultimately fixing the food insecurity fears.  

No one should be afraid of genetically modified organisms, as they have existed in our society for thousands of years. GMOs can protect people who are food insecure and help society to ensure that food issues will never be a consistent issue. Allowing people with irrational fears of GMOs control a resource that may beneficially alter the agricultural industry is an irresponsible choice that could cause a fixable issue to remain unsolved for many more