Pros and cons of biotechnology

Industry, government, and many university scientists tout the benefits of genetically modified foods for

agriculture, ecosystems, human health, and feeding a rapidly growing world population.

With equal passion, consumer groups, environmental activists, religious organizations, and

some scientists warn of unforeseen health, environmental, and socioeconomic consequences.

Based on what you presently know, do you think we should raise genetically

modified crops?

What if you heard GM seeds have improved lives?

Since 2006, the FDA has required all food manufacturers to list the amount

of trans fats on nutrition labels.

Since then, California and New York City have banned trans fats in

restaurants. Other cities and states are now considering similar bans.

Vistive low-linolenic soybeans, a biotech variety,

have been on the market since 2005.

• Lower level of linolenic acid• More stable soybean oil• Need for hydrogenation virtually eliminated• Fried foods, baked goods, and snack products

produced with lower or even zero grams trans fat

“KFC is one of the restaurants using Vistive exclusively in their chicken frying. Wings from WingStreet are fried in Vistive

oil. A&W root beer stands use it, as do Keebler cookies. There are over 150 food companies in the U.S. using Vistive oil in

the products you eat today.”

Now, do you think we should raise genetically

modified crops?

What if you heard GM technology could

produce new allergens?

Some people, including children, are highly allergic to

peanuts and other foods.

Critics feel the possibility exists that genetically modified food

crops may unintentionally introduce a new allergen.

Now, do you think we should raise genetically

modified crops?

Now, do you think we should raise genetically

modified crops?

What if you heard GM technology could hurt

small farms?

Patented GM crops will make small farmers indentured to big agribusiness

firms because farmers must purchase new seed every year and cannot save the seed

from the previous growing season.

Patented GM crops might prove too expensive for poor farmers

in developing countries.

The USDA’s Economic Research Service explains, “Intellectual property rights in agriculture…are

frequently used to protect technological advances. These rights allow their owners to exclude competitors

from ‘making, using, offering for sale, or selling’ an invention for a limited period of time. As the pace of

scientific discovery in agricultural biotechnology has accelerated over the past few decades, the use of

patents and other intellectual property rights to protect these discoveries has increased tremendously.”

Now, do you think we should raise genetically

modified crops?

What if you heardGM technology has

improved lives?

For Indian cotton farmers, biotech seeds have improved farming practices,

income and life. “I bought a truck, tractor, built a house, and dug a well. Before we would use an ox cart. I am

more enthusiastic about farming.It’s worth it now.”

Two major studies underwritten by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and

Industry of India show the profound impact that increased yields from

biotech cotton seeds have on farmers, their families, and their villages.

Since 2003, more than 500,000 acres in the Philippines have been planted

with biotech corn seeds and new traits are coming to market. The positive effects are substantial for biotech

farmers’ families. “With better incomes, corn farmers are not only able to send their children to school, their overall

standard of living has also improved.”

Now, do you think we should raise genetically

modified crops?

What if you heard GM technology can

conserve water?

Agriculture uses two-thirds of the world’s freshwater. Each year

severe droughts affect local production and food prices.

Today, with the latest in biotechnology and improved production methods

farmers can grow a ton of corn with 30 percent less energy, less water and less

pesticides than at any time in history.

Now, do you think we should raise genetically

modified crops?

What if you heard GM technology is more

susceptible to attack?

Just fifteen food crops today supply 90 percent of the world’s food and

energy intake.

GM crops will further our reliance on vast monocultures. Farmers of monocultures are vulnerable to lethal attacks by disease and

pests. In the 1970s corn blight devastated the U.S. corn crop; in 1975 Indonesian farmers lost half a million acres of rice to the rice

hopper insect. GM monocultures will possess similar susceptibilities. If pests evolve

tolerance to a crop’s built-in insecticide, or if weeds develop immunity to weed killers

sprayed over fields of herbicide-resistant GM plants, that crop—and the people who count

on it—could suffer.

Now, do you think we should raise genetically

modified crops?

What if you heard GM technology is vetted by

your government?

• Evaluated by the EPA for environmental safety

• Evaluated by the USDA on whether the plant is safe to grow

• Evaluated by the FDA on whether the plant is safe to eat

The EPA examines each activity on acase-by-case basis to ensure that no harm

will be caused to human health or the environment. The EPA regulates the

environmental and animal feed aspects of ‘live’ GMOs under the GMO Regulations.

The FDA has been studying genetic modification techniques for drug-biologic

development, as well as the development of new foods. The FDA has carefully developed policies to accommodate the changing and

evolving world of biotechnology. The evidence shows that these new products meet the same

safety standards as traditional foods.

Now, do you think we should raise genetically

modified crops?

What if you heard other countries are doing it?

“Without a quality seed it is not possible to achieve development

objectives in agriculture.”—Mamadou Traore, Ministry of Agriculture, Uganda

He added that the best solution to improve the quality of seed is to allow researchers to conduct experiments including GM seeds. He

believed that biotechnology is already being used to solve important agricultural problems such as drought and excessive use of

pesticides and fertilizers. Uganda now has a Biotechnology Research and Development Agenda 2010 to guide policy makers in strategy

formulation for implementing priorities in biotechnology.

In Egypt, farmers expressed their satisfaction with biotech maize, noting that they benefited more than from using conventional varieties. Consumers showed their interest about the

applications of biotechnology. They expressed their concern for popularized information so

as to better understand the technology.

Colombia’s Ministry of Social Protection in late 2009 approved

the importation of three GM events of maize and two of cotton.

CTNBio, the Brazilian Biosafety Technical Commission, has given the greenlight to an herbicide-resistant GM soybean variety jointly developed by

the Brazilian Agricultural Research Cooperation (Embrapa) and BASF.

CTNBio says that the GM soybean meets the standards and the biosafety law for the environment and agriculture, as well

as human and animal health.

In a globally-conducted farming poll:

37% of farmers say they are amenable to new technologies, and genetic modification

was by far the most popular of the five presented key factors.

Farmers voted for education and training at 20%, investment in research and development (18%), removal of trade barriers (15%), and government

intervention in food production (10%)

Now, do you think we should raise genetically

modified crops?

What if you heard GM technology could feed

the world?

By 2050, say United Nations’ experts, our planet must double food production to feed an anticipated population of 9.3 billion people—

40 percent higher than today’s 6.6 billion.

Factor in a pressured water supply, an energy-supply crunch and climate change. How do we

surmount these obstacles?

Now, do you think we should raise genetically

modified crops?