Corn, cotton, alfalfa, papaya, soybeans, canola, sugar beets, and butternut squash, all genetically modified farm products in America, were the subject of debate among the Hillsdale County Farm Bureau on Monday.
More than 20 people attended a discussion on modified crops Monday. Bob Boehm and Kate Krepps, representatives from the bureau, spoke on the costs and benefits of genetically modified organisms (GMO). Hillsdale County Farm Bureau member Alissa Ferry also spoke.
“We really do hope to stimulate some thought,” Krepps said. “and to give [students] resources so that [they] can formulate [their] own opinion about this very hot topic.”
GMOs are crops developed with genetic engineering, or “precise breeding”. This enables scientists to add traits to a plant that are either found in the plant itself or another crop. Krepps compared it to “replacing a page in a book”.
The presentation also attempted to counter arguments against GMOs. Large, seedless fruits are not always a result of genetic engineering, Krepps said, and farmers are not required to produce them.
Boehm explained that the introduction of GMOs has presented an alternative to insecticide use in farming. The main purpose of altering the crops is preventing wildlife from damaging the plants.
“A lot of [changes] are related to how we can solve a problem,” Boehm said.
Boehm explained that the changes made to plants such as corn are not harmful and target specific insects with proteins.
The representatives said modified crops are studied for 13 years before public release. More than $136 million is spent on the research of each. However, some audience members voiced concerns that GMOs are bad for public health or are designed to make seed distributors rich.
“All of these things have risks, and what we’re trying to do is provide safe food,” Boehm said. “As technology moves we learn … there’s a better way.”
GMOs must pass the inspection of the USDA, EPA, and FDA to make sure they are safe to grow, harmless to animals and healthy to eat. Boehm said 90 to 95 percent of America’s corn and soybeans are modified, along with 95 to 100 percent of sugar beets.
However, these statistics do not imply that most farmers plant GMO crops exclusively. Farmers plant whatever is best for their field, according to Boehm. They will even plant normal and modified crops on the same farm.
“The average population is removed so much from the farm they have no idea what really goes on or where their food comes from,” Boehm said. “One of the biggest challenges we have is having people understand that it isn’t just from the grocery store.”
Ferry said a survey of Hillsdale residents showed 86 percent of respondents had never set foot on a farm before. She explained that the choice consumers make between GMOs, organic products, and conventional foods is often uninformed.
“Go talk to a farmer. Go talk to someone who does it so you can see their processes and understand,” Ferry said.
