When the food you are eating contains ingredients created through the process of Genetic Engineering (GE is shooting a gene from
one species into the DNA of another), your food has been served
GMO'd (like a'la mode, but with Genetically Modified Organisms instead of
ice cream).
Since the
mid 90s Agribusiness has converted traditional crops to GE crops. Today, roughly 90% of corn, soy, cotton, canola, and sugar beet (
sugar) ingredients used in processed foods are GMO'd. Other GE crops include Hawaiian papaya, sweet corn, yellow squash, and alfalfa (animal feed). More are in the research hopper for release into the food supply soon.
There is controversy over whether GMOs are safe for
human consumption because the
FDA does not require
human testing,
long term testing, or labeling for tracking disease. Until GMOs are proven safe, rising numbers of
people are choosing organic and searching out products without ingredients highly likely to be GMO'd.
GE is controversial because farmers cannot save seeds after harvest because the GE seeds are patented and organic and unaltered crops can become contaminated by GE crops, causing farmers financial harm.
There is a movement in the U.S. to pressure food companies to label their GMO'd products through consumer boycott, state legislation and the
FDA at the federal level. Over 50 other countries, including Russia and China, require GMO labeling, yet U.S. citizens are not afforded the 'right to know' to date.
Joe consumer: "Would you like some corn flakes?"
Jill consumer: "Is it
organic?
Joe consumer: "Nope, it's the big brand corn flakes."
Jill consumer: "Hell no! I
don't want my corn flakes
GMO'd."