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The real problem with GMO Food - YouTube
Channel: Our Changing Climate
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this video is sponsored by audible on a
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crisp
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day in early august 50 activists
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tore down a fence they stormed through
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that barricade in the bikehole region of
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the philippines
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and ran towards a rice field beyond it
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then to the shock of onlookers the group
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began to tear out rice plants
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by the handful they did this not because
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they were hungry
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or had any desire to eat the grain in
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fact their motive
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was the opposite the activists sought to
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destroy the crops because the plants
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were part of a field test of the
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genetically modified plant
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golden rice a strain that scientists
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claim would help
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cure blindness in young children by
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supplying them with needed vitamin
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a if this genetically modified golden
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rice was so beneficial
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why then was that group of protesters in
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the philippines angry enough to rip it
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from the ground
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today we're not only going to figure out
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exactly why genetically modified
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organisms like golden rice have inspired
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such
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hatred and have devolved into polarized
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debates like this
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ideological reasons
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but we're also going to dig down
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underneath this debate to understand the
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real consequences of gmos
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in our modern food system
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gmo or genetically modified organisms
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can refer to
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a lot of things but in the case of food
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it refers to crops that have had their
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genes specifically altered to express a
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certain trait
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in very simple terms this means taking a
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certain gene from one
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organism like repelling insects and
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transferring that trait into
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a plant's dna sequence so that the plant
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expresses an
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insect repelling trait as it grows while
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genetic modification
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of crops has existed since the birth of
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agriculture this new form of genetic
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engineering
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is a bit different in the past if a
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farmer wanted to create a sweeter apple
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for example
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they would need to breed two apple trees
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with sweet traits and
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hope the next generation might produce
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even sweeter fruits
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this process requires luck and years of
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persistence
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gene editing on the other hand is much
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more precise
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it uses specific genes from one organism
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to modify the genetic code
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of another you know exactly what trait
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will be
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expressed but the process of gene
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editing in organisms
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is not new in fact it's been honed and
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tested for more than
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40 years and over those years genetic
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modification has become easier
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and more precise as technology advances
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so then
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why has genetically modified food
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becomes so controversial
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exactly if you look at look at brazil
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look at argentina
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statistics
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that conversation on the indian news
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network ndtv
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epitomizes the gmo debate full of
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passion and at times
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hyperbole often it seems like there's
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very little common ground in the genetic
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modification debate
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indeed in 2015 a pew research poll found
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that in just the u.s
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only 30 percent of adults believed that
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gmos were safe to eat
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a percentage which stands in stark
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opposition
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to 88 of scientists from the american
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association for the advancement of
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science who believe gmos are safe
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how does a gap like this happen in part
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misinformation
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and politicization but also as we'll see
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a little later on fear of gmos can also
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be a fear of a much
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larger problem first though let's
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quickly look at the general outlines of
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the gmo debate on the anti-gmo side of
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the conversation
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lies those who view genetically modified
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food as mutated
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franken food poisonous crops that will
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harm humans
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if we eat them we're going to see foods
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with toxins in them
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and these foods are going to be more
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allergenic than normal foods
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while on the other side gmo advocates
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claim that genetically modified foods
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can help
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solve world hunger mitigate climate
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change create more durable drought
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resistant plants
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and increase yields i believe gmos are a
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great technology to help us not only
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improve global food security but
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also help us save the environment these
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are extreme cases
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of a more nuanced conversation but they
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are some of the core through lines
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of the debate some of these claims
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though are just
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false for one gmos are not bad for your
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health and they are not mutated
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frankenfood
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a meta-analysis of 698 studies found
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that all of the research concluded that
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in terms of health there have been no
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observable differences between
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genetically engineered and conventional
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foods and yes while genetic engineering
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might help create more durable crops or
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drought resistant varieties they're by
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no means a panacea for world hunger
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or climate change there are only a
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handful of drought resistant crops on
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the market right now
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and most like bayer's dt crops only
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perform a couple
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of percentage points better than
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conventional crops
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and that's only in specific drought
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scenarios
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also as a whole most gm crops in the u.s
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are commodity crops
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used to create ethanol to feed cows
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or as base ingredients for products like
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high fructose corn syrup
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so most of these crops are not solving a
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food shortage problem
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instead they're adding unneeded products
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to the market
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like corn syrups and considering that we
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waste
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one third of the food we produce every
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year
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world hunger is not an issue of more or
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better
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food it's about infrastructure and
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logistics
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genetically engineered crops have been
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used to do
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good however like in the case of the
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hawaiian papaya from the 1950s to the
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1990s hawaiian papaya farms
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suffered a 50 drop in production
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as a result of the ring spot virus farms
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were decimated and their owners
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were reeling but in 1998 a new breed of
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papaya genetically modified to withstand
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the virus hit the market
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called the rainbow papaya it began to
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replace conventional papaya plants for
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its durability in the face of the
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disease
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and after a decade of use accounted for
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75 percent of all hawaiian papaya
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production
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[Music]
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so we know that gmos are safe to use and
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in some instances can be applied in
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beneficial ways
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then what's the issue the real problem
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with gmos
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is not actually gmos themselves but the
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industrial farming
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system behind them we're using gm foods
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to bolster
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an unsustainable system one of the more
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popular gm varieties of crops in the u.s
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monsanto's roundup ready seed
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exemplifies this
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interwoven nature of gmos and industrial
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agriculture
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from corn to soybeans to sugar beets the
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roundup ready plants are
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resistant to the herbicide glyphosate
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which is commonly referred to
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as roundup this resistance means that
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farmers can indiscriminately spray
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over their fields without worrying about
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damaging their crops
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as a result glyphosate use has
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skyrocketed in the u.s
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toxic runoff from overspraying is
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causing dead zones throughout u.s
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waterways
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and monsanto which is now owned by the
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german company
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bayer not only profits off their roundup
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ready seeds but receive
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bumper profits from the additional
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increase in
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glyphosate demand to top it off
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companies like bayer
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patent and restrict seed saving claiming
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that the research and development of
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these seeds takes time
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and money this means that not only are
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seeds more expensive
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because one company has monopoly on them
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but also
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once a farmer has bought seed they're
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not allowed to practice seed saving to
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cut
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costs in the next year the problem with
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gmos then
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is that it allows for a system in which
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just a few
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companies hold immense power over our
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food supply
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through that power these companies
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perpetuate a food system
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wherein highly toxic chemical sprays are
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the only solution to pests and weeds
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just a few quote unquote perfect and
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uniform crops
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trump a variety of diverse plants and
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size
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is valued over taste
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at the end of the day gmos are just a
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technology
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they're not a food system so gmos like
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most technologies
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can do good when used in a just ethical
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and sustainable
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manner but unfortunately in our modern
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agricultural system the history of gmos
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is fraught with unsustainable
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applications
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and they most often fall into the wrong
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hands
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just four companies control sixty
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percent of the seed market
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and thus can influence what food is
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grown
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gmos however might be able to help us
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tackle issues like climate change by
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transferring traits from the american
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chestnut a carbon storage powerhouse
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into other plants or crops but they are
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a small part of a much larger needed
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overhaul of our food system gmos are not
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a silver bullet to climate change hunger
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or
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drought and while it is important to
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continue exploring genetic engineering
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it's equally essential to re-learn and
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foster
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a more ethical relationship with our
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land and
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food in fact for many of the problems
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that gmos
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seek to solve we already have solutions
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agroforestry integrated weed and pest
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management systems
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no-till and polycultural systems
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represent just a few of the diverse
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paths forward and not only are these
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techniques
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sustainable but they can also increase
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yields
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create more durable crops and suck
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carbon from
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the air within these systems gmos might
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have a place
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but not until they are produced as
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public goods
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untethered from the bonds of patents and
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large multinational corporations
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genetically engineered plants should be
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seen as just one
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small addition to the collection of
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thousands of other
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rich varieties of crops in the world it
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is a technology that can be used to
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perpetuate
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a destructive and extractivist system
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but it also has the potential to do
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better it has the potential to create
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crops that work in conjunction with
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a sustainable food system that produces
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nutritious
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diverse and tasty food
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i love learning and reading about
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