Genetically Modified Foods (Essay Sample)

Genetically Modified Foods
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
Genetically Modified foods
Introduction
Genetically engineered foods have raised safety concerns about their consumption over the past decades. Critics have continued to question their credibility in human health with most of them arguing that they are unfit for consumption. Microbiologists and scientists have come out to defend the technology arguing that the foods fit food. Debates have been all over about the safety issues raised, but so far the warring sides have not reached any form of consensus. The argument remains clear that the feeds pose no potential risk for human consumption. Companies have funded researchers who have even come up with better breeds of crops and modified the existing ones to even better species. Critics see it as a marketing strategy by these companies since they sell the crops to consumers. They see the motive behind this funding and research as ill geared towards making a huge profit while holding human life at peril. Questions now arise on who is right: the critics or the advocates of GMOs? We can answer this question by carrying out an assessment study of the benefits versus risks of genetically modified foods and be able to be a way out of this dilemma.
David Zilberman, a researcher and agricultural and environmental economists believes that the benefits of genetically modified crops outweigh the risks. He argues that these crops have lowered the food prices and the cost of production as fewer pesticides are used by farmers. He also points out that they have increased outputs of traditional crops such as cotton and sisal since better strains are raised. Therefore, GMOs have contributed to food security as food is easily available and at cheaper prices, were it not for GMO technology many people could die of hunger, he argues. The United Nations Foods and Agriculture estimate that the world will have to produce 70% more food by 2040 to keep up with the population growth. Climate changes predicted to have occurred will make arable farming harder to carry out. Zilberman predicts that the modified crops will be suited to adjust in difficult conditions such as in dry arrears and under extreme temperatures. They will have an adaptive feature to the harsh climate conditions and, therefore, will be ideal for human survival. As the campaign intensifies on promoting genetically modified foods, many countries have put restrictive measures on these crops. They have banned them in their countries with other shunning away from these crops. The European Unions has banned genetically modified crops. Other countries such as India, Asia and Germany are yet to decide. African countries, where most of the population is malnourished, have refused to adopt these crops in their countries. Globally, it's only four countries-USA, Canada, Argentina, and Brazil that produce 90% of the world have genetically modified products. The issues raised on this skepticism by most of the countries are that the crops have not been proved free of risk, and, therefore, precautionary principle ought to be applied.
In my opinion, I feel it is appropriate for the technology to be fully tested until there no uncertainty about the modification of crops for human consumption. Nations need to come together and carry out research that will put henceforth recommendations that can be adopted internationally. Safety food concerns are a humanitarian policy that calls for absolute screening and consumption of risk-free foods. The population is dying out of hunger and malnutrition; if empiric...