Mr. Matheui
Period 2/Honors Bio
January 15, 2014
Source: New York Times
Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/08/opinion/bittman-how-many-cheers-for-cheerios.html?ref=geneticallymodifiedfood&_r=0
Author: Mark Bittman
Published: January 7, 2014
Summary
This article talks about the new label that is going to be present on Cheerio boxes. The Cheerio company is going to be soon adding a "No GMOs" label. The question is, do they truly care or is this a marketing ploy? Mark Bittman believes that this change could be the start of something big. He believes that this is not at all a difficult task for Cheerios, it is simply up to finding new sources for their main ingredients, such as oats. So, a small task for what they are hoping to be a boost in sales. Their are not many cereals that have this label, giving Cheerios the bragging right if added to the box. Mark Bittman believes that this doesn't change the content of the Cheerios in anyway. This is significant because it will probably start a switch for many farmers over to the cheaper non-GMO seeds. The benefits for the GMO seeds are outweighed by their cost, and the farmers have been told that the GMO seeds are supposed to produce a larger crop yield and a smaller food cost, which has yet to be fully believed.
The three problems Bittman outlines: GMOs have slowed down the process of containing weeds, bugs, etc. That is a problem that needs to be looked at in a different way, and eliminating GMOs won't do much in that process. The next issue, people constantly want to know what is being put in their food, but GMOs are not all that bad. The last issue, non-GMO foods are being looked at over organic foods, which take far more effort but require a different and separate label, if you have an organic label you can't have a non-GMO label, but people may start to only look for non-GMO, while organic is the true better option.
Connection
This article connects to the section where we studied GMOs and their presence in many common foods. We watched a clip of a protest against GMOs, probably instances such as these have led customer pleasing products, such as Cheerios, to change their ways from GMO to non-GMO. A point that Mark Bittman makes is that GMOs are not all that bad, as we learned in class. In fact, we also learned in class that they can be very beneficial to farmers, but Bittman also argues this by saying there are only small benefits that may not be worth the price of the GMO products. Lastly, Bittman talks about how GMOs have slowed the process of weeds, bugs, and more which is another topic we studied in evolution. My assumption would be that GMO products have only slowed and not stopped the rampage of weeds and bugs because these organisms have started to reproduce from some individuals in their species that are resistant to the gene that is in the GMOs that are supposed to kill them off. So, the weeds and bugs will continue to adapt and reproduce, therefore GMOs will not the be answer to that very relevant issue in farming.
The three problems Bittman outlines: GMOs have slowed down the process of containing weeds, bugs, etc. That is a problem that needs to be looked at in a different way, and eliminating GMOs won't do much in that process. The next issue, people constantly want to know what is being put in their food, but GMOs are not all that bad. The last issue, non-GMO foods are being looked at over organic foods, which take far more effort but require a different and separate label, if you have an organic label you can't have a non-GMO label, but people may start to only look for non-GMO, while organic is the true better option.
Connection
This article connects to the section where we studied GMOs and their presence in many common foods. We watched a clip of a protest against GMOs, probably instances such as these have led customer pleasing products, such as Cheerios, to change their ways from GMO to non-GMO. A point that Mark Bittman makes is that GMOs are not all that bad, as we learned in class. In fact, we also learned in class that they can be very beneficial to farmers, but Bittman also argues this by saying there are only small benefits that may not be worth the price of the GMO products. Lastly, Bittman talks about how GMOs have slowed the process of weeds, bugs, and more which is another topic we studied in evolution. My assumption would be that GMO products have only slowed and not stopped the rampage of weeds and bugs because these organisms have started to reproduce from some individuals in their species that are resistant to the gene that is in the GMOs that are supposed to kill them off. So, the weeds and bugs will continue to adapt and reproduce, therefore GMOs will not the be answer to that very relevant issue in farming.
Why is it that a box cannot have both an organic and non-GMO label? I wouldn't think that one would exclude the other.
ReplyDeleteWhich current ingredients in Cheerios have GMOS, and why? Is it for pest resistance, weed-resistance, etc?
ReplyDeleteWhat is the necessity in removing GMO's from Cheerios? Have there been any "uproars" about the genetic mutation of organisms and food or is it a change in food processing?
ReplyDelete