By Reiner Geiling
The wrongdoings within modern agricultural techniques devastate a plethora of nature’s creations. We are what we eat, and this claim proves to be applicable in the United States. This country cultivates a wide variety of pesticide and herbicide ridden GMO crops over an astonishing 170 million acres of land. A question persists for many Americans– why? The answer is quite simple: mass consumption and compulsive greed.
“Roundup” is a herbicide created by Monsanto, an Agrochemical company. Its main ingredient is glyphosate, which is used in a nearly immeasurable amount on farms globally. Glyphosate’s main role is to kill bugs and weeds, with the intent of just the plant being left standing. It works by blocking an enzyme essential for plant growth. Glyphosate can kill the crops themselves, so at times they have to be genetically engineered to be resistant to glyphosate. Even though glyphosate can stay on the plants we eat and kill natural beings, the public is unexposed to this fact. Due to glyphosate and pesticides being present in produce, vegetarians and vegans are exposed to them the most. Less than one percent of US farmland is organic, meaning their farms are naturally grown and genetically unaltered. All other farms, 99% of them, have toxic chemicals and/or genetic variation.
A GMO is a genetically modified organism whose genetic makeup has been altered in a laboratory setting using genetic engineering. The potential benefits of these practices for a field crop are accelerated growth; disease, drought, and pest resistance; longer shelf life; and overall enlargement. Therefore, less pesticides have to be used in the fields to kill bugs that harm the crop. As a whole, these desirable traits allow farmers to yield larger and stronger crops very inexpensively. With a drastically increasing global population, demand has skyrocketed; GMO foods can feed the masses.
While this may seem to be the ideal solution to overpopulation, everything comes with a price. Tampering with mother nature can induce a variety of negative effects. Health risks posed by genetic engineered food include toxins, allergic reactions, higher risks of infections and diseases, different cancers, and decreased nutrition. Furtherly, a study conducted by Doctors Arpad Pusztai and Stanley Ewen of the University of Aberdeen examined the effect on rats of genetically engineered potatoes which contained a pesticide derived from plants. The rats that consumed these potatoes experienced harmful effects on organ development, body metabolism, and immune function. If rats are the earliest ancestor of mankind and these mammals are experiencing such drastic effects, a human being would exhibit outcomes of a similar scale. Furthermore, there are inadequate amounts of research and overall understanding of GMO products. The individuals who created the wide variety of GMOs do not explicitly understand their negative impacts, posing a threat to the public’s overall well being. To make matters worse, food is not labeled as genetically altered when it is sold: consumers uneducated on this topic will inevitably buy genetically altered products.
It is imperative to realize how deadly and diabolically evil the company Monsanto is in agronomy. As shown in the protest above which raised awareness on the subject, Monsanto also developed “Agent Orange.” This is an incredibly toxic herbicide which was used in the Vietnam War, where U.S. planes sprayed it to eradicate the rural trees and shrubs which opposing Vietnam troops were hiding in. In the process, however, Agent Orange had lasting cancerous effects on the people of Vietnam and the U.S. troops which dispersed it. About 20 years after the Vietnam War, an Agent Orange Settlement Fund of about $200 million was distributed in cash payments to approximately 52,000 Vietnam Veterans or their survivors, for the lasting effects of the herbicides they were exposed to.
Spread wisdom from what you have learned of the wrongdoings Monsanto commits to your peers! Buy from urban farm stands, order directly from local farms, and examine product labels. For instance, organic fruits and vegetables have a five digit barcode label starting with the number 9, while GMO foods usually have a barcode starting with a 3 or 4. Natural produce is considerably more expensive than its GMO alternative, and as a result harder to access financially for certain individuals. As a solution, consider purchasing organic food when it is in season and/or on sale in order to maximize savings. Give this sum of newfound knowledge to friends and family, and support natural farms where the crops grown are not genetically altered for higher rates of profit and mass production. Stay natural, persevere, research, and be aware of what you are ingesting.
The Beacon Beat 