Farmers are now using from six to 10 times more chemicals because what has happened is that we've developed a new super-weed from genetic engineering. There are about five companies that sell GMO oil seed rape, and you'd be hard-pressed to find a field in western Canada that's not contaminated. So it´s now become a super-weed that takes different chemicals to kill. It has moved into grain fields and all other fields besides oilseed.
Many British supermarket chains say that their own house brands are free from GM components, but whether this means "totally free" or "substantially free" is not obvious. Non-house brands normally do not make such a claim. Organic foods claim to be entirely free from GM components but are legally bound by EU regulations as any other foodstuffs.
Genetic modification is an issue, which arises every day, although people are not always aware of it. At the moment there is a lot of debate whether GM foods are good or bad. GM Crops are affecting society in many of the foods that we buy. The most common foods are maize, cotton, tomatoes, potatoes, corn, oilseed rape, soybean and sugar beet. These food items can be found in bread, pasta, chips etc. There are laws, which enforce the clear labelling of GM food on the ingredients list, which is helping the consumers of our society choose what they buy.
GM crops were originally created for 3rd world countries. So why have they ended up here? Farmers feel that by buying GM they can earn more money because the crops grow quicker allowing them to then plant another one. This also means they have to buy more GM seeds and use yet again more chemicals, damaging the environment even more. It is understandable for 3rd world countries to plant GM products because they have shorter seasons in which they can grow their crops. In which case GM crops are ideal for them because it will grow in the short amount of time that they have. This doesn’t apply to us in Britain, the farmers here know that our seasons are long enough to get well grown crops to supply the country.
The first genetically modified crops to be sold in the USA were tomatoes, which were modified so they wouldn't go soft so quickly, then Soya beans and oilseed rape, which gives margarine and oils. They were modified to survive certain herbicides and weed-killers, and then maize and cotton were modified to carry a poison that kills pests and protects crops against damage. Potatoes were also some of the earliest vegetables to be modified
A lot of the time GM foods loose their nutritional value because they are being force grown and are not given the right amount of time to grow. This means that in actual fact your not getting your 5 portions of fruit and vegetables a day needed to keep up your nutrition because GM foods do not provide the correct amount. Another problem that people do not take into account is that GM crops could cause new viruses that scientists might not be able to control. There are many other problems with GM such as Vegetarians and Vegans may find it offensive to put animal genes into plants and Pests may develop resistance to GM crops that have been designed to kill them. Also the more that Gene technology is used, the worse the environment will become. There is also the point that GM were made for third world countries but the demand from richer countries has pushed up the price meaning some countries will not be able to afford GM foods.
By law GM products are allowed to be grown in selected parts of the UK. Although that may change because there are reports that GM foods may cause types of tissue difficiancy causing cancer. Which is why GM food consuming has been brought to a hault. I feel that GM products should be allowed to be grown in third world countries but countries that were managing steadily without GM use should slowly reintroduce more usage of non-GM products. This may be hard but not impossible because it has already infected so many non-GM products but it can be done.
