Opposed to GMO?

Question

Why are so many people opposed to the development and distribution of GMOs?

Answer 1

what bizzy said.

It is hard to study if something is "safe", America will pass almost anything as sfe as long as it brings in the $$$$.

WOuld you trust a company that created Agent Orange and wanted in 2006 to pay parents to test their pesiticeds on children.

GMO's have had a few short term studies on them, some proving they are safe and most proving they are not, and there have never been tests that study long term effects 30 or 50 years down the road.

GMO's also end up requiring more pesticide applications.

U.S. government data reveal a huge 15-fold increase in the use of glyphosate on soybeans, corn and cotton in the U.S. from 1994 to 2005, driven by adoption of Roundup Ready versions of these crops.

Increasing weed resistance to glyphosate has led to rising use of other toxic chemicals.  In the U.S., the amount of 2,4-D applied to soybeans more than doubled from 2002 to 2006

Not to mention the fact that, despite how they try, they have not been able to control GMO crops from spreading, growing wild, or passing over into non-GMO farms.

They have not actually produced any USEFUL benifits over good, old fashioned, natural food. In fact the few things they were trying to aim for failed on them.

"Roundup Ready soybeans, the world's most widely planted GM crop, have 6% lower yield than conventional soy, according to University of Nebraska researchers"

"Industry claims that genetically-modified cotton (Bt cotton) has boosted cotton yields and increased small farmers' income.  However, close examination reveals that cotton yield gains are attributable more to favorable weather conditions (India, the U.S) and a shift to irrigation (South Africa) than to the biotech traits."

"Even the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture admits that no GM crop on the market has been modified to increase yield.  The main factors influencing crop yield are weather, irrigation, soil fertility, and conventional (non-biotech) breeding for increased yield."

Answer 2

there is still relatively little known about the effects of consuming genetically modified crops on human health.

many animals, when given a choice between GMO foods and normal foods, always choose the normal foods- - seeming to instinctively know that something is weird with the modified ones. Also, a lot of the GMO modified things are modified to resist pesticides and such, which simply leads to MORE pesticide application which is bad for the environment and wildlife.

Basically, nothing has proven it's safe, and several studies have suggested it's not.

Also, gmo's reduce diversity, setting up a great possibility that if anything were to come along and wipe out the crops we'd be left with nothing.

People should really just be careful about messing with nature, b/c nature tends to get it right while we tend mess it up.

It's a hard issue to really pin down though, b/c if you research it you can pretty much find information to support either view.

Answer 3

Opposed... you just cant predict the consequences of consuming genetically modified food.