How do I reconcile our Nations nutritional standards, the rise in obesity, the proliferation of industrialized agriculture and the loss of small farms, suburban sprawl, and the declining middle class. GMOs just seem to be part and parcel of a long list of epic scientific and technological gaffs. Why should I trust this new technology?

Expert response from Jennifer Schmidt

Maryland Farmer and Registered Dietician

Wednesday, 01/07/2015 12:20

This is a challenging question because it starts from the premise that technology is the cause of all the ills of the world. There are many “things” that if analyzed statistically, could correlate similarly to these issues other than the GMOs you cite. Use of cell phones, HD TVs, E-readers, laptop computers, even organic food has increased in parallel to many of your concerns.

 

I’m not sure that I agree that the technology has been a “gaff”. Pharmaceutical “GMO” precedes agricultural “GMO” by several decades. We rely on biotechnology for many lifesaving medicines, the first of which was human insulin. Prior to 1978, insulin was extracted and purified from the pancreases of cows and pigs sourced from the slaughterhouse. Since 1978, human insulin has been produced using bacteria engineered with the human insulin gene. It is a much better product because bovine and porcine insulin vary slightly in their composition as compared to human insulin. It is a lifesaver for Type I and insulin dependent diabetics.

 

Likewise, many medications for cancer, cystic fibrosis, multiple sclerosis, kidney failure/dialysis patients, and treatments for many other diseases are produced through recombinant DNA technology or “GMO.” Because these drugs are mainly injected, implications from the technology being a “gaff,” would be immediate. I think this is why first and foremost you should trust the technology. It’s been highly effective and very safe in the treatment of many serious illnesses. These medicines have been through extensive research and testing because being approved by the FDA.

 

Let’s be clear – “GMO” isn’t a food, “GMO” or more correctly, genetic engineering, is a plant breeding process. It is the process of introducing a new trait to a specific plant or seed. It is similar to traditional breeding, hybridization, or radiation or chemical mutagenesis, all methods by which conventional and organic seeds are improved. It is a more specific, less random method of bringing out a trait such as drought tolerance or virus resistance in a specific crop. The products of “GMO” which are seeds that farmers can buy, have been through extensive research and testing before being reviewed and approved by the USDA, the EPA, and the FDA. There is no failure in the technology or the process of “GMO”.

 

We as individuals have a range of tolerance for change and for innovation. Some are early adopters, out there trying the newest and the latest technology. Others are more skeptical, a sort of “wait and see” approach for innovation and technology. Farmers were on board with genetically engineered crops much more quickly than they were to adopt hybrid seeds in the 30’s and 40’s. The USDA chart below show how much demand there is for this type of seed. Why would that be? Because the technology works. We see significant savings in pesticides, improvement in how we manage our inputs, how we manage our soils, and ultimately, how sustainable our family farms have become by lowering our environmental footprint. It certainly hasn’t proven to be a “gaff” for the thousands of U.S. family farms who have adopted the technology. 

 

Expert response from Jennifer Schmidt

Maryland Farmer and Registered Dietician

Wednesday, 01/07/2015 12:20

This is a challenging question because it starts from the premise that technology is the cause of all the ills of the world. There are many “things” that if analyzed statistically, could correlate similarly to these issues other than the GMOs you cite. Use of cell phones, HD TVs, E-readers, laptop computers, even organic food has increased in parallel to many of your concerns.

 

I’m not sure that I agree that the technology has been a “gaff”. Pharmaceutical “GMO” precedes agricultural “GMO” by several decades. We rely on biotechnology for many lifesaving medicines, the first of which was human insulin. Prior to 1978, insulin was extracted and purified from the pancreases of cows and pigs sourced from the slaughterhouse. Since 1978, human insulin has been produced using bacteria engineered with the human insulin gene. It is a much better product because bovine and porcine insulin vary slightly in their composition as compared to human insulin. It is a lifesaver for Type I and insulin dependent diabetics.

 

Likewise, many medications for cancer, cystic fibrosis, multiple sclerosis, kidney failure/dialysis patients, and treatments for many other diseases are produced through recombinant DNA technology or “GMO.” Because these drugs are mainly injected, implications from the technology being a “gaff,” would be immediate. I think this is why first and foremost you should trust the technology. It’s been highly effective and very safe in the treatment of many serious illnesses. These medicines have been through extensive research and testing because being approved by the FDA.

 

Let’s be clear – “GMO” isn’t a food, “GMO” or more correctly, genetic engineering, is a plant breeding process. It is the process of introducing a new trait to a specific plant or seed. It is similar to traditional breeding, hybridization, or radiation or chemical mutagenesis, all methods by which conventional and organic seeds are improved. It is a more specific, less random method of bringing out a trait such as drought tolerance or virus resistance in a specific crop. The products of “GMO” which are seeds that farmers can buy, have been through extensive research and testing before being reviewed and approved by the USDA, the EPA, and the FDA. There is no failure in the technology or the process of “GMO”.

 

We as individuals have a range of tolerance for change and for innovation. Some are early adopters, out there trying the newest and the latest technology. Others are more skeptical, a sort of “wait and see” approach for innovation and technology. Farmers were on board with genetically engineered crops much more quickly than they were to adopt hybrid seeds in the 30’s and 40’s. The USDA chart below show how much demand there is for this type of seed. Why would that be? Because the technology works. We see significant savings in pesticides, improvement in how we manage our inputs, how we manage our soils, and ultimately, how sustainable our family farms have become by lowering our environmental footprint. It certainly hasn’t proven to be a “gaff” for the thousands of U.S. family farms who have adopted the technology.