TGIGMF (Thank God It's Genetically Modified Food) - Pro GMO

The unit in the Food class, revolves around the genetic evolution of our food. This unit goes deep within the genetic makeup of organisms. This action project, we were asked to take on the position of either pro GMO or anti GMO, talking about the pros and cons of genetically modifying our foods. I chose to be pro GMO because, how could we be against GMOs when 75% of our foods are GM, getting rid of GMOs may mean sacrificing some of our favorite foods. How do you think apples taste different? Are we really prepared for this HUGE change in our lifestyle? I spent countless amounts of hours researching my case. I had a fun time preparing arguments and debating with my classmates on the topic.



What did you have for lunch today? I bet you had something that was modified to your liking. You’re anti GMO but you eat it everyday? About 75% of our foods are GM. To say you're against it, isn't so smart. Seems to be a bit of contradiction on your side. You have to be reasonable. Salmon, Tomatoes, Potatoes, Corn; all amongst the top 10 most modified foods. I see people eat fries everyday, everybody on the anti GMO side has ate a potato before! I wouldn't be surprised if they had them today. Also tomatoes! Who doesn't like pasta! It’s plenty of peoples favorite food. So what you're trying to do is, take away some of our favorite foods because they're changed to taste better and last longer? That sounds so smart! Lets all go get some pizza and wedges! A woman on the opposing side named AMK’s favorite food is pasta and that goes to show she’s not ready to give up our tomatoes.

To say you are against GMOs, would probably mean you shouldn't eat them because even if its said to not be GM, its modified anyway. GMOs go back to the descendants of our foods, like bananas and broccoli! I believe GMOs are good and safe because Genetically Modifying organisms are completely natural and they can be beneficial to humans.

Using biotechnology, we can create a lot more food with less money, less employment, and saving million of lives in the process. Also since our technology is improving, we now have ways to add nutrition and valuable vitamins to our meals through biotechnology.

GM foods are everywhere in the supermarket and have good nutritional value. Scientists are working to increase the nutritional value of foods. In Canada, scientists have genetically engineered salmon to make it grow faster and larger. This means more protein. Genetic Engineering is changing an organism’s DNA. Furthermore, our everyday foods are starting to lack nutrients so we have come up with substitutes. One substitute for rice is called “Golden Rice.” This rice may be able to save over 1 million lives because it provides Vitamin A. 

GM crops can depend on themselves for protection! This means that if we modify our plants to repel their unfriendly pest and bugs themselves. We can use less pesticides which means less money and less pollution. An example of one of these GM plants would be the Monsanto soybeans. "We'll soon be able to produce more crops with less pesticide, less fuel, less fertilizer, fewer trips over the field. We'll produce much more with much less.” Said by Dr. Ray Bressan, professor of horticulture. Pesticides and insecticides are substances that find their way through the soil of the plant and leech the groundwater which then releases into streams, polluting our water and impacting our bodies and environment horribly.  

Scientists have proven that genetically modifying organisms is completely natural. Organisms like plants and animals genetically modify themselves all the time, like cabbage for example. According to geneticists, evolution already started the GM process. It been going on for millennia. Genetic modification goes as far back as the descendants of our everyday vegetables. Breeding of plants is done daily by humans, and biotechnology is no different. Biotechnology is the genetic manipulation of microorganisms to create useful substances.

Since most foods are already GM. You are going against your favorite foods and things you eat daily. Your favorite foods are modified to taste good and last longer. The opposing side may say that they're "bad" but yet eat them daily and are perfectly fine. Are you ok, because I'm fine? Anybody can say something is organic but does it really mean it’s organic? 

Are you convinced yet? It seems to me that there’s NO real downside to GMOs.

Conclusion:
 In conclusion, TGIGMF (Thank God It’s Genetically Modified Food) . Thank You All, VOTE PRO GMO!

Agricultural Masterpiece

In the last unit of Food for Thought, our humanities course, we were assigned to team up in four groups to demonstrate the understanding of our four units in pictures. The main points of the whole drawing are agricultural history, and to envision a sustainable future of food production. Each group had to have 3 topic points to demonstrate in the drawing. My group was assigned the first unit which was Life. This unit talked about the beginning of agriculture and ancient civilization and how different foods were found and domesticated. For inspiration the whole class looked at a very interesting piece of artwork done by "The Beehive Collective," called the "True Cost of Coal." The major challenge of this drawing was to connect all the units together through different styles of artwork. The other challenge was thinking about the future of food, with all the experiments that scientists do with food, is there really a bright looking food production ahead of us?

NVA(2014). Food For Thought

This drawing is based on the first unit, called “Life.” The main focus of this unit is how and why humans transitioned from hunter-gatherers to agrarian societies, and how different ancient societies domesticated and found food. In my group, we decided to make a road timeline to connect all the units together. For our unit, we drew an assortment of different foods on the road. The reasoning for this is to symbolize how people grew crops to survive. There were no chemicals or fertilizers, so societies grew organic gardens. In 10,000 B.C.E, people were hunter-gatherers, which means they hunted animals and fish support their diet.

We drew trees and plants on one side of the road to represent life and peaceful times. We used keywords to guide our drawing. We used organic, domestication, and life. On the other side of the road we drew trees and plants to represent life. We also drew hunter-gatherers to show them hunting for food, and how they lived a natural lifestyle. We showed the society by water and we showed the people farming and hunting.

The beginning of agriculture is where the word “life” comes from. We wanted to show in our drawing, how our ancestors settled where they did and how they domesticated their foods. The importance of this unit is vast and it all comes together since this is the first of four units. Unit 2 revolves around monoculture, death, and colonization. Unit 3 revolves around this world’s food industry and the way that our food is made and treated today. Unit 4 revolves around the modification of the food industry and how life has transitioned through all 3 units, and imagines what the future of food might look like.

GS(2014). Food For Thought