Genetically Modified or Genetically Enhanced? It's a Thorny Question

As you probably already know, a GMO is a genetically modified organism. Basically, you take an ordinary garden-variety product - say a tomato – and add new genetic material to it in order to make it taste better, increase crop yields, be resistant to pests without the use of pesticides or perhaps even make it ripen more quickly. It all sounds fairly innocent, but then words like cross pollination, “mutant” plants and even more frightening ones like “terminator technology” start to creep in and we all get very nervous indeed.  There are serious concerns that genetically modified crops could threaten biodiversity and even our health.

In the United Kingdom where I live most people are pretty wary of foods that have been genetically modified and have been from the very beginning. GM foods are considered not only bad for you, but unethical as well.  Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland have all agreed to make themselves GM free zones, with Dublin declaring the Republic of Ireland wish to do the same thing. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) in London are hedging their bets, saying they prefer “to assess each application for GM crops on its merits without blanket approval or rejection” and European Union regulations require that any genetically modified product marketed for sale must be judged “not to present a risk to health, not to mislead consumers and not to be of less nutritional value than the foods they are intended to replace”.  One good thing though, if a product here contains anything genetically modified, it has to be labeled as such.

Up until recently, world opinion was pretty divided on GM crops.  The media have played a huge role in this, so much so that where you lived could really influence your opinion. 

I spent a lot of time in the North America between 2004 and 2007 looking after my parents in the last years of their lives.  I travelled back and forth to Canada at least five or six times a year and in addition there were regular trips to the US.  I shopped and cooked in both countries and the question of looking to avoid GM foods never really arose.  It would have been impossible as there was no labeling and to be honest, at that point I not only had other things on my mind, but frankly I couldn’t see why properly managed, genetic modification might not be a very good thing indeed.  Interestingly enough, at that time you rarely saw the words “genetically modified” in the North American press – instead you saw the words “genetically enhanced”.   My goodness that sounded better. Enhanced is a good thing, isn’t it? Don’t we all want things to be enhanced and improved? Would I not prefer my family eat foods that have less pesticides on them? Do I not want food that both tastes and keeps better?  No wonder the majority of public opinion was totally different there, and as someone who likes to look on the bright side, no wonder I was influenced it by it.

Thankfully things have changed a lot in the years since then.  Opinions in North America are more divided and so is mine.  Monsanto’s huge mistake of researching and developing seed that does not actually bear more seed for planting (often referred to as “suicide seed”) raised everyone’s hackles worldwide. Then it was discovered that monarch butterfly caterpillars that ate pollen from genetically modified crops were dying in large numbers.  Not long after that, millions of honeybees began to disappear without explanation.  It made a lot of people, including me, wonder if messing with the food chain was really such a good thing.  While there is not any proof genetically modified crops caused the disappearance of the bees, there is no way yet of proving it doesn’t contribute to it either.  And if GM crops are killing insects, maybe we ought to look at what they might be doing to us, not to mention what would happen to our food chain if we lose our honeybees, the main source of crop pollination worldwide. 

Chances are that many of us have eaten and are eating more genetically modified products than we imagine. Two of the main genetically modified crops grown are corn and soybeans. Animal feed used to nourish the animals we eat can contain both of these products - which we also eat both as an end products in themselves, in vegetable oils and as part of more foodstuffs that you would imagine.  If you look at the ingredients list on virtually any package of prepared food, chances are you are going to find some soy or corn derivative.  Plus there is a risk that if genetically modified crops are grown close enough to regular or organic crops, that pollen may be transferred from the GM crops to the other crops unintentionally.  The only limit is how far the wind can blow – and that is a pretty scary thought. 

It is definitely time for labeling of GM products and products containing them like we have in the UK worldwide – and for that matter, labeling here could still be made clearer.  But what else can one do on an individual scale?  I’m hardly an eco-warrior, but I do care deeply about food, the environment and what and how my family – and my readers – eat.   So I do everything I can to make it unnecessary for me to buy things that are genetically modified.  I try to choose organic vegetables, fruit and meat wherever possible, always buy free range eggs, refuse to buy intensively farmed meat or fish, grow some of my own vegetables in the summer and never use pesticides of any kind in my garden (flowers or vegetables).  I also make a concerted effort to buy only what I need and campaign for and advocate better, clearer labeling on packaged products. Most of all though, I try to stay informed and open-minded. 

Until we know the true environmental, economic and human cost of genetically engineering our crops, we need to proceed with caution both individually and collectively.  If genetic modification can help us to feed the world, reduce pesticide use, improve nutrition and grow foods in inhospitable environments without damaging the world’s eco-structure, human health or fledgling economies, then it could be a wonderful thing indeed.  The question is, is that really possible?  Sadly, I’m afraid the answer to that thorny question is probably no. 

Genetically Modified or Genetically Enhanced? It's Still a Thorny Question

As you probably know, a genetically modified (or GM) food is one that has had new genetic material added to it in order to alter its DNA structure. This might be done for a number of reasons including to improve taste, prolong shelf life or even to make the crop more disease resistant while growing. It can reduce the use of pesticides and make crops less likely to fail in extreme weather conditions such as unexpected early frosts.

But could they be dangerous? Many people maintain that GM crops are. In the first instance, genetically modifying crops can affect the surrounding ecosystems. They are already being cited as a potential source of blame for the collapse of many bee colonies. A large number of monarch butterfly caterpillars also died in the US after eating milkweed plants contaminated with pollen from corn genetically modified to kill insect larvae. There are also concerns that crops resistant to weeds will cross-pollinate and encourage the development of “super weeds”. It may not be possible to control these without the use of chemical pesticides and no one knows if the pesticides we have would be strong enough to kill them. As to what the effect of eating foods that are genetically modified will have on animals or humans in the long term, very little is known. However, GM foods have been in the North American food chain since at least the early 1990’s and we are not seeing anything negative that can be directly and conclusively linked to their consumption.

After all, haven’t we been playing around with agriculture for years? The loganberry is thought to be derived from a cross between a blackberry and a raspberry and tangelos are a cross between a tangerine and a pomelo or grapefruit. We’ve cultivated different varieties of apples, plums and pears by grafting and cross breeding for centuries. How different is that from what is being done with genetic modification? Well, to start with, none of the new fruits created from these crosses had a negative effect on the environment or killed bees or butterflies, both of which pollinate our crops.

What is most worrying is that we don’t always know what we are eating. Although products in the UK and Europe must be labeled if they contain anything that is genetically modified, in many other countries, this kind of labeling is not compulsory. Everything from soybeans to corn, rapeseed (Canola) and even sugar cane has been successfully genetically modified. This is by no means an exhaustive list. So if you eat corn oil made from genetically modified corn, or GM soy products (which are in more things than you would imagine) or even meat raised on GM soy based feed, you are consuming genetically modified products whether you are aware of it or not.

Public perception of genetically modified foods varies tremendously depending on where you go. For example, in North America one often hears the term “genetically enhanced” which sounds infinitely better and inherently safer than the “genetically modified” and “Frankenstein food” terminology that is used in the UK. However even here public opinion is shifting, especially as now the Food Standards Agency in the UK says that “GM foods may only be authorised for sale if they are judged not to present a risk to health, not to mislead consumers and not to be of less nutritional value than the foods they are intended to replace.” There is apparently a rigorous safety assessment that is carried out to ensure this and this has reassured many consumers.

So what do I do? Well, I try to buy organic wherever possible and I always read labels. I follow the GM issue very closely and keep an open mind. However, when given a choice, I avoid serving anything I know to be genetically modified to my family wherever possible. I buy organic fruit and vegetables, and source my meat from a reputable butcher (but it is still pretty likely a lot of the beef we eat is raised on GM soy based feeds). However if my favourite fruit was on special offer and it wasn’t organic would I avoid it? Definitely not. We humans are amazingly adaptable in terms of diet and I’m not unduly worried about the effects on our health but I do worry about what genetically modified products are doing to the environment. Let’s face it, we would be pretty lost without bees and butterflies and I don’t fancy the idea of “super weeds” at all.

The debate rages on. Despite research to the contrary, some people still maintain GM crops will help prevent world hunger, prevent climate change and that economically, nations have no choice but to embrace them. Others maintain GM crops will destroy the environment and harm our health irreparably. As with everything, I think this issue needs balance and open minds. Those who think genetic modification is the answer to all our problems need to consider that everything has consequences and tread very carefully. It might even be prudent to slow down a bit and wait and see what happens in the next few years around the foods we have already modified, both in terms of environmental and human health. Those who have closed their minds to the idea of genetic modification completely need to consider how beneficial it could be if properly implemented and regulated. It’s unlikely that genetic modification is going to go away anytime soon, so we definitely need to get folks on both sides of the debate discussing this issue constructively before it’s too late – not just for us, but for the world as we know it.