Genetically Modified Foods

1. Genetically Modified Foods

3. Quickly write down a list of the foods or drinks that you had in the last 24 hours. Circle any foods that you believe were genetically modified.

4. Where do we get our food? • Hunting and gathering • Subsistence farming • Agriculture • Grocery Stores • Restaurants

5. Questions to consider? • Do we have enough food to feed the world? • Do we have the right types of food in the right places? • Can we increase our food supply? • What is the cheapest and easiest way to increase the food supply?

6. Genetically modified (GM) and genetically engineered (GE) foods provide one way to produce enough food for the growing world population and to produce the right types of food.

7. People have been modifying food for many years. Some types are familiar and comfortable to consumers. • Examples include: • Selective breeding of animals • Alcohol, yogurt, cheese and other dairy products, tangelos and other hybrid foods • Recent controversy surrounding genetic manipulation of food because of its increased popularity.

8. What is a genetically modified food? • A food that has genes added or removed • Also: • Foods made using genetically modified ingredients • Products from animals fed GM feed • Food products produced by a GM organism

9. Why are foods genetically modified? Rapid and precise way of altering organisms to have a desired trait. Traditional breeding methods tend to be slow, require many trials and produce many inaccurate products.

10. Most of these crops are being grown to benefit the producers of the food – not the consumers. (make it more efficient to grow the crop) • But the foods end up in products that are made from these GM crops • Ex: GE soybeans – get soybean oil – made into margarine.

11. Prevalence of GM crops • In 2010 • 10% of all crops • 29 countries • Most prevalent in the US, Brazil, Argentina, and Canada • Most common gene added allows farmers to use weed killer on plants without killing them

12. #1 Soybeans #2 Corn #3 Cotton #4 Canola (rapeseed oil) #5 Sugar Beets #6 Alfalfa #7 Papaya #8 Squash #9 Poplar trees #10 Potato Tomato Carnations Radicchio Flax Petunias GM crops

13. Examples of GM foods

14. Breakfast Pop tarts Nutri grain bars Quaker granola bars Eggo Waffles Most cereal (Cheerios, Wheaties, Lucky Charms, Rice Krispies, Froot Loops, Cocoa Pebbles, Cap’n Crunch) Chocolate Cadbury Hershey’s Mars Nestle Cookies Keebler Oreos Graham Crackers Teddy Grahams Did you eat GM food today?

15. Crackers Wheat Thins Triscuits Cheeze-its Snacks Microwave Popcorn Frito-Lay Pringles Campbell’s Soup Frozen Pizza Drinks Pepsi Coke Capri Sun Fruit Works Dr. Pepper Hi-C Mt. Dew Koolaid Ocean Spray Gatorade Did you eat GM food today?

16. 4 biggest GM in foods • Corn: corn oil, corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, corn starch, corn mealSoy: soy protein, soy lecithin, soy oil, soy sauce, soy isolatesCanola: canola oilCotton: cottonseed oil

17. Scientists estimate that 2/3 of food in a normal grocery store contain something that is genetically modified.

18. Check a current list non GM foods True Foods Now has a list of foods that are considered to be non GM if a person wants to avoid them or see if a certain product contains GM ingredients. http://truefoodnow.org/shoppers-guide/

19. Advantages/Benefits… • Avoid chemical pesticides on food and runoff into water supply. • Weather resistant food production • Increased nutrients • Increased crop yields in shorter time • Increased crop yields on less land • Can use land of poor quality • Enhanced taste or quality • Longer growing season

20. Disadvantages/Risks… • Environmental Hazards • Unintended harm to other organisms • Reduced effectiveness of pesticides/herbicides • Insects develop pesticide resistance • Weeds develop herbicide resistance • Crops that cross-pollinate to create “superweeds” • Harm to beneficial insects or wildlife • Decrease biodiversity

21. Disadvantages/Risks… • Economic Concerns • Increase price of seeds/food • Domination of world food production by a few companies • Increased dependence on industrialized nations by poor countries • Rich countries have advantage • Human Health Risks • Allergies (soybeans with brazil nut gene) • Unknown effects on human health

22. Regulation • Different governments have different responses to regulation of GM food • Europe – products are labeled and not well accepted • Japan – health testing of GM foods mandatory • US – not many policies, regulated by many different agencies

23. Labeling of GM foods • FDA contends that GM food are substantially equivalent to non-GM foods, and do not need labeled. • Food labels of GM food are not required in US unless nutritional values are changed. • Most industries believe that labeling should be voluntary.

24. Labeling of GM foods • Considerations • Cost of labeling • Handling in fields, shipping, production so that products of GM and non-GM are not mixed. • Higher price to consumers • What are acceptable amounts of GM before labeling needed? • Who is responsible for monitoring and enforcing?

25. Future • Greatest challenge is educating and informing the public on the GM foods and policies without causing alarm or fear. • From recent surveys: • Americans have little knowledge of GM foods • Most oppose a ban but believe that it should be regulated by the FDA

26. THINK and DISCUSS • Mendocino County, California became the first county in the US to prohibit growing GM crops and raising GM animals. The ban is unlikely to have an immediate effect because no GM crops are known to be grown there. But it will give farmers a marketing tool in places where anti-biotech food sentiment is strong. • USA Today March 4, 2004

27. Should foods in the US be labeled? • Should they say GM or GM free? • Would you spend more money to purchase GM free foods? • Would you vote to make your county a GM area? Why/why not? • Should farmers/food manufactures be required to disclose they are using GM products?