Tag Archives: health

Mark Lynas’s Changing Opinions on GM Crops

Listening to Mark Lynas not only discuss how his opinions on genetically modified crops have completely changed but also to hear him apologize for bashing on on GM crops was quite interesting to hear. I think it is rare to hear such a strong shift from anti-GMO to pro-GMO. The basis of his switch was, in summary, due to the lack of science that supports GM crops are harmful. It was also aided by his recognition of what is actually causing the problems that people think GM crops are causing. The one point that really stuck out to me was when he said the threat of starvation and world hunger is much greater than the threat of consuming a GM product. Mark Lynas was a prime example of how someone can make an incorrect assumption based on social movements/lack of education on the subject. In his case though, he sought out the correct information and realized his prior opinions were completely invalid to what science was actually saying about GM crops.

My view on genetically modified crops is that they are a safe and sustainable way for farmers to produce the food that needs to be produced to feed the ever growing population. That being said, I don’t think organic farming is a bad thing either. I think organic farming is great, but not sustainable for the population. I also agree with the logic behind Mark Lynas’s opinion. I wouldn’t be in support of something that I thought had a chance of hurting people. Also from a farmer/producer standpoint, we would not grow a crop that would harm our consumers. In the end the consumer is who is determining our profit, so why would we produce something that would be harmful to them? That is why I support GM crops.

Is Food Labeling important?

Since more people are been educated about food, the food labeling has been becoming very important in nowadays. Food labeling tells what is been added to the food, what nutritional values it contains, and the number of amounts of ingredients being added. It is a very good tool to show people who want to track their nutrition intake. there are some advantages as following: providing consumers information on food to give their chance to choose their ideal food comparing those similar products; avoiding food hypersensitivity;  helping people eat more healthier which can reduce the cost of healthcare. Everything has two sides,  so there is some disadvantage too: due to some selfish market strategies by showing wrong labeling, it can mislead customers in a wrong direction; so many alternative products means so many food labels need to read, which can be one of the reasons to cause decidophobia. It may make people overwhelmed;  so we need always keep critical in mind to make the right decision for our own health.