An Examination of the Issues Related to Genetic Modified Foods and Food Insecurity

With the development of global economy, the people suffered malnutrition. Has reduced by 167 million over the last decade. However, there are many people still facing food insecurity problems today. According to the 2015 annual report of Food and Agriculture Organization of United Nations. About 795 million people are undernourished global (FAO 3), therefore, the food insecurity is still a global problem that need to solve. Meanwhile, the science and technology has developed by leaps. And bounds which has revolutionized our society and affected the quality of people’s life. Genetic Modified (GM) technology as one of the new scientific achievement that had been promoted by many countries since the invention. It has many advantages including higher yield, environmental friendly. And more nutritious that recognized by many scientists and farmers. I believe that promote GM crops and foods is one of the new option to solve global food insecurity problems. However, there is an ongoing controversy about genetically modified foods. Some scientists and organization such as Greenpeace believe that. Genetically modified foods will jeopardize human health or leads to environmental problems. In this essay, I will deal with these following problems that related to Genetic Modified foods and food insecurity:

1. What is Genetic Modified foods and how Genetic Modified crops can solve global food insecurity problems?
2. For the problems of global food insecurity such. As malnutrition and global hunger,npromote Genetic Modified crops is an effective solution](Price)
3. How to avoid potential risk when promote Genetic Modified crops and foods?
4. Should different countries apply localized solution instead of international standard? Scientists first discovered that DNA can transfer between organisms in 1946, the first.

Genetically modified plant was produced in 1983 (Bawa) and the first genetically modified crops were commercialized in 1996 (Clive). Genetically Modified (GM) crops technology was first used in foods since 1994 in United states (Clive 1996). Genetically modified crops are produced from organisms using the methods of genetic engineering. That have had specific changes introduced into their DNA (King 9). The purpose of genetically modified food is to improve the quality of the plant. Such as its shape, nutritional quality and consumption quality. For example, 80% of Hawaiian papaya is genetically modified in order to resist the ringspot virus because there is still no conventional or organic method to control ringspot virus (Bawa). Greenpeace groups is one of the major organization which object to GM technology, Greenpeace opposing GM crops for several reasons: food safety, genetic pollution and supervision problems. In addition, some researchers have found that GE crop products have a higher potential to cause allergy than general crop products (Freese 308). Although the GM foods still face controversial and are deemed doubtful by many scholars, admittedly, the foods should not be banned or treated differently because their use reduces the demands for pesticide, increases crop yield and more nutritious. GM crops are playing a critical part to alleviate the problem of global hunger and malnutrition in developing countries.

The first significant advantage of Genetically Modified food is more environmentally friendly. Because some genetically modified crops are resistant to injurious insects and weeds. Which successfully reduces the use and dependence of pesticides. Thus reduced cost of cultivation and lower the pesticides residue hence enlarge the total output. Pesticides are toxic to living organisms and the impact of pesticides on the environment have been well known.

Some can accumulate in water systems, pollute the air, and in some cases, have other dramatic environmental effects. Also the pesticides dangerous to human health, ranging from short-term impacts such as headaches and nausea to chronic impacts like cancer, reproductive harm, and endocrine disruption. Many growers have to use pesticide and herbicide in order to ensure yield and quality, and for them, this usage is inevitable. However, the introduction of genes from the soil bacterium Bacillus thurengiensis (Bt) produces a substance toxic to many pests but is harmless to humans, wildlife, and to most beneficial insects, such as bees (Wang). The introduction of Bt has allowed many farmers to reduce the use of harmful insecticides. In China alone, the use of Bt cotton has halved pesticide use since the crop was introduced, and the population of beneficial pest-eating insects, such as ladybugs has increased since 1997, because they are resistant to Bt (Lu). These results show that genetically modified food play a significant role in environmental protection. Because of the anti-pest characteristic of GM food, use of pesticide will reduced or no longer be necessary while ensuring the yield and quality of crop. Therefore, the advantage of environmental friendly may deduct the cost of cultivation, this portion of saved cost can be used to cultivate more crops hence higher the entire output, it contributes to global hunger population.

The second advantage of GM crops is higher per unit output, it boosts agricultural output dramatically hence reduce the demand for cultivated at same output. This is also an important approach to defeat global hunger because it brings large additional output. During second half of the 20th century most industrial countries achieved sustained food surpluses by first green revolution (Hazell), and GM technology will play an important role during second green revolution, the high-yield transgenic crops are created by implanting the gene that leads to a high-yield. According to a research report which related to genetically modified crop, the average yields of Bt hybrids exceeded those of non-Bt counterparts by 80%, from 833 kilograms per hectare to 1501 kilograms per hectare (Qaim 900). The output of grain has increased by 276 million tons between 1996 and 2010 (FAO 104); without GM technology farmers had to break an additional 91 million hectares of ground to harvest 276 million tons of grain between 1996 and 2010. This extra 91 million hectares of land is most likely ecologically fragile land or tropical rainforest. Based on high-yield characteristic of genetically modified food, planting GM food allows a reduction in the quantity of demand for land. People will no longer need to cultivate extra land in order to increase output of crop. They can also concede the land to forestry, while maintaining the output when they plant traditional crop. This provides the opportunity to prevent deforestation and protect biodiversity. Without doubt, land reclamation for plant grain will destroy biodiversity and the genetically modified technology has reduced damage to the environment in the past ten years. More importantly, this characteristic of higher yields per cultivated area increased food output significantly, therefore, it contributes to defeat global hunger.

Another feature contained by GM crop is more nutritious, which also contributes to defeat food insecurity because it helps to overcome the problem of malnutrition. A typical example is the Golden Rice, which is a breed of Genetic Modified rice. Golden rice was research and developed by Swiss company Syngenta, the scientist biosynthesize beta- carotene in Golden Rice through genetic modified method, and this beta-carotene will convert into vitamin A eventually in human body and therefore ease the lack of vitamin A. According to WHO Global Database on Vitamin A Deficiency, there are 190 million of children and 19.8 million pregnant women have low vitamin A status (WHO 28). Lack of vitamin A can result in death, irreversible blindness and Xerophthalmia according to WHO’s report. The use of Golden Rice will alleviate the situation of lack vitamin A in most of underdeveloped and developing countries.

There are many ways to reduce the negative reception about genetically modified food. After all, the genetically modified technology is a new technology with some uncertainty. Even if there is no specific scientific evidence that GM crops are more harmful than conventional varieties, people still need to avoid the potential harm about GM foods. Therefore, scientists still need to strengthen the research in order to find potential harm about GM foods or continuous improvement.

Cite this page