As we have sped into the 21st century, we have run into the issue of keeping up food supply with the demands of the growing population. To keep up with these new demands, large food companies have enlisted the help of scientists to engineer our foods to make them easier, faster, and cheaper to grow. Unfortunately, using Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) is bad not only for the health of us humans, but also the health of our environments. I believe that we should stop using genetically modified foods so that we can avoid liver disease, kidney disease and an increased risk of cancer in humans, and stop the rise of antibiotic resistance in animals and on crops. Throughout the past several decades, as we have funded the genetic engineering of our food, the higher ups of the food companies have turned a blind eye to the health risks that consuming engineered food have to us, and have conveniently forgotten to inform the everyday consumer of these risks. In “Evidence Grows of Harmful Effects of GMOs on Human Health” by Helke Ferrie, who has a MA in Physical Anthropology and has spent much time working with the World Health Organization, states that according to Canadian research “93% of all fetuses and their mothers tested were found to be contaminated with toxins associated with GM foods” (Ferrie 2) and that there is proof “GM soy products cause pre-cancerous changes to the ovaries and uterus of animals that consume them” (Ferrie 2). To begin with, the most important stage of development of the human life is while a child is in their mother’s womb, growing and preparing to enter the germ and disease filled world. Most, if not all, disabilities or handicaps that children have come from teratogens that the mother has put in her body during the first 7 months of pregnancy. For 93% of fetuses to have toxins in them very unfortunate because it will cause them many problems later on in life. Second, if there is solid proof that genetically modified soy is causing harm to animals, more than likely it will have the same effects in humans, especially children who don’t have fully developed immune and digestive systems. According to Ferrie, California is about to ban GM fish products, after a long battle to even have it be labelled, and because of this, “Monsanto’s shares fell after” this news reached the public (Ferrie 2). In “Canada and U.S. still support GM Foods, despite ill-effects” by Helke Ferrie, she states that “The American Academy of Environmental Medicine has formally warned against GMO consumption” (Ferrie 3), yet with it in “60% of all processed foods” (Ferrie 3) that is becoming virtually impossible. We are not only pumping our fellow humans full of GMOs, but we have gotten to the point that we are pumping our chickens, cows and pigs full of them as well to make them grow bigger faster. “About 70% of conventionally raised broiler chickens are loaded with antibiotics…’ (Ferrie 3) and “rats fed biotech food became like ADHD kids” (Ferrie 3). By consuming all of these GM foods and antibiotic and hormone loaded animals, we are putting these toxins in our body. Unfortunately our bodies can only filter out so much of what we put into it before it gets tired. When our bodies can no longer expel the toxins, it sits and builds up in our muscles and fat, which then cause us many health problems like cancer and liver failure and kidney failure. Not only that, but if you then have kids, it can be “transferred from a pregnant woman to the baby via sperm or egg” (Ferrie 3). In general, eating all of these modified and engineered and altered foods is not in the best interest of our health and our environment and the future generations. Many may argue that we are making the world a better place by using GMOs and injecting our animals. In a way, it does keep the cost of food reasonable, as well as making it easier and faster to produce. In “Role of Genetic Engineering in Horticultural Crop Improvement – A Review” by Ajay Kumar Thakur, Devendra Kumar Chauhan, Nehanjali Parmar, and Vandana Verma, who all work at the University of Horticulture and Forestry in India, they state that “genetic improvement that could combat… pests would be of significant benefit” (Thakur, Chauhan, Parmar, Verma 2) because it means that we would be using less pesticides and it would also keep the overall price of production low. The gene that allows this to be possible is isolated from Bacillus Thuringiensis and is then introduced to the plants original DNA. Another main aspect to consider is that are making the crops more resistant to “disease caused by several fungi, bacteria and viruses” (Thakur, Chauhan, Parmar, Verma 2). By doing this we making sure that the money we put into raising a crop is not wasted as often from being wiped out by one of the said diseases. Essentially, it makes the crops more cost effective and brings in more money since there is less wastage. There is also the issue of using herbicides to kill weeds. When we genetically modify the plants to be herbicide resistant, we make sure that when we spray the fields, rather than having to hand weed, we won’t be killing the crops, only the weeds. While it can be argued that the plants still absorb some of the herbicide, for the most part they don’t seeing as they pass all of the safety testing implemented by food agencies. In “Why GM” from the African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition & Development, we are told that not only do we make the growing of crops more effienct by modifying them, we “improve the nutritional value” (African Food Journal 1) as well. While it is still called an “imprecise art” (African Food Journal 1), we can see that genetic modification has been immensely successful thus far seeing as it appears in most of our foods today. There have been “generations” of plants to test out the modifications, and with each generation we get closer and closer to perfecting the crops. “The first generation plants have traits that help farmer to manage their land or reduce costs” (African Food Journal 1) while the second generation “has traits that enhance the nutritional value of food and animal feed” (African Food Journal 2). The third generation “is looking at how plants might be used as factories to make pharmaceutical products” (African Food Journal 3). Through this process we see the many benefits to the growing world population, especially when it comes to reducing the price. By reducing the price we are making the food more accessible to populations that are on the lower end of the economic ladder, thus eliminating hunger and starvation, to a degree. While it may be all great and wonderful that we are using science to our advantage, we are not taking into account the havoc we are reaping on our bodies and the world we live in. In “Health Risks of Genetically Modified Foods” by Artemis Dona and Ioannis S. Arvanitoyannis, they state that it is of great concern the “possibility that antibiotic resistance genes used as markers in transgenic crops may be horizontally transferred to pathogenic gut bacteria, thereby reducing the effectiveness of antimicrobial therapy” (Dona, Arvanitoyannis 2) In other words, when we digest a plant that has been modified to be resistant to almost everything, we then absorb some of those modifications into our systems which then makes it very difficult to find medicines that we are not resistant to. In effect, this makes us more likely to contract an illness that is very severe that we cannot get rid of. GM foods also have negative effects on animals. “Rats fed with flavr-savr GM tomatoes” (Dona, Arvanitoyannis 3) showed signs of stomach erosion and necrosis, Stomach erosion and necrosis lead to life threatening internal bleeding, especially if the person that this happens to is elderly or on anti-inflammatory agents. There has also been suffient evidence that GM soybeans have an impact on the pancreas (Dona, Arvanitoyannis 3), which can then lead to diabetes, among other things. In “Agricultural Use of Antibiotics and the Evolution and Transfer of Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria” by G.G. Khachatourians, it is mentioned that “Intensive animal production involves giving livestock animals large quantities of antibiotics to promote growth and prevent infection” (Khachatourians 1). By doing this we are forcing the bacteria to evolve and become resistant to the medicine meant to kill them. It becomes a never ending cycle that ends only when we cannot come up with an antibiotic strong enough to kill the bacteria. When this happens it causes humans problems because we contract the disease, but then cannot get rid of it because we made it resistant to all of our drugs. In effect, while it may be useful and easy to modify our foods today, we are not taking into account that we are making the world a less wonderful place for our future generations. Though there may be benefits, nothing can outweigh the awful negative side effects that consuming GMOs has on us. We may not notice today, or even tomorrow, but one day we will wake up gripping our stomachs because we are in pain from the nasty antibiotic resistant E. Coli that was have contracted and we won’t be able to do anything about it because we created this monster and we cannot destroy it. We have to consider that when we are putting our trust into the big corporate monsters who make our food, are they really looking out for our best interests, or the interests of their pockets? When we have so much proof the GMOs are bad for us, we should be fighting for the right to know exactly where they are in our foods and make the decision to not eat them, but it becomes near impossible to do that when we are unable to get a law passed to label them. We need to look to the future and decide if we want to continue on this track of failing health and killing the environment, or stop it and try to go back to the way nature intended it to be.

Works Cited
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Khachatourians, G. G. "Canadian Medical Association Journal." Agricultural Use of Antibiotics and the
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Thakur, Ajay K., Devendra K. Chauhan, Nehanhali Parmar, and Vandana Verma. "ROLE OF GENETIC
ENGINEERING IN HORTICULTURAL CROP IMPROVEMENT – A REVIEW." Agricultural Reviews.
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