The Controversy
GMO corporations promise us only benefits from their modified crops. These include longer life, better quality and taste, and resistance to herbicides and innate pest resistance. They assure us that the genetically modified crops have no ill effects on the population, environment, or economy.
The major issue with this claim is that these corporations have had shady business practices in the past. In the infamous Monsanto cases, independent farmers are targeted for lawsuits by the GM giant Monsanto for patent claims. Monsanto claimed that the farmers had "stole" their patented soybean varieties, when they had blown into the farmer's fields and cross-pollinated their non-GM crops. The scientific consensus is that these foods and the products made from them are harmless. Because of lobbying and bureaucracy, scientific studies funded by large companies can be untrustworthy and biased. Good examples of this are the "studies" presented by tobacco companies, depicting cigarettes as not only harmless, but beneficial, before the truth came out. Some environmental groups, like Greenpeace believe that this may turn out to be the case for GM crops. |