Food is an incredibly important part of life for all human beings. Apart from being one of the few primal needs for survival, its presence is seen everywhere: in the media, Hollywood, sporting events, TV, and it plays some sort of role in every aspect of society and culture. But has anyone ever stopped to think and ask: What’s in my food? This is a question that is now sweeping the world, as the conversation on the production of foodstuffs grows increasingly controversial. The biggest argument about what is eaten is the costs and benefits of genetically modified organisms, better known as GMOs. In layman's terms, a GMO is a plant or animal whose genetic structure has been modified through scientific methods to benefit society. Pertaining to …show more content…
The develop of GMOs began in 1977, when scientists discovered a particular microbe in the soil, Agrobacterium Tumefaciens, that had the capability to inject foreign genes into plants, modifying them to the will of scientists (Rich). From here, experimentation occurred on different plants that would lead to the many GMOs we see today. With each passing year new strides were taken to enhance the food supply with this new technology, as it was applied to a medley of different crops for different effects, “In 1994, the US Food and Drug Administration approved the first genetically engineered food for humans - the FLAVR SAVR tomato, made to have a …show more content…
To begin, this myth comes from the fact that genetic modification gives certain crops an edge against the problem of drought, which is infamous for the destruction of fields and poor harvests in farms across the country. GMOs, such as Monsanto’s DroughtGard Corn, are programmed to better survive droughts, so that inconsistencies in the weather do not ruin a farmer’s growing season. However, the Union of Concerned Scientists believes that these nature-usurping crops are not all they are made out to be, as “most studies of these crops have occurred under controlled conditions, which cannot replicate the complexity of drought in the field. How effective these crops will actually be—and whether unintended negative effects may occur when drought-tolerance genes turn on during drought—therefore remain unclear,” (Results). Additionally, whether or not GMOs are as effective as stated is almost irrelevant, as certain conventional methods of production continue to best their technologically enhanced brothers when it comes to output. The Union of Concerned Scientists notes this as well, claiming: “We found that although genetic engineering is beginning to have some success in enhancing the drought tolerance of crops such as corn, other technologies, such as classical and newer forms