Apparently there’s been a thorough meta-analysis of research on GMO corn and the result is– it’s all good. Nice summary in Forbes.com:
Now, a new report published in “Nature” has the potential to help put a categorical end to these worries. The report compiles the entire body of science that previously examined the impact of genetically modified corn—over 6,000(!) published articles—and distills the essential findings of that massive research. The conclusion of the report is clear cut. It is a dramatic account of how big the benefit and small the risk is from GMO crops…
The societal effects of GMO crops, and especially corn, have attracted enormous public and scientific attention, not least because such crops dominate the food we eat. Almost all the science in the area has consistently produced a reassuring message, but until now it continued to be received with skepticism in some circles. To persuade the skeptics, the new report examines the results only of those prior scientific investigations that performed large field experiments and that compared GM and conventional corn crops grown under identical conditions. Here are the results:
First, genetic modification increases corn yields, by a lot…
Genetic modification addresses these two sources of loss, and thus crops resistant to either pest or weeds yield on average 10% more grain, and crops resistant to both deliver a 25% increase in grain yield. Consider the global importance of such an effect: the world could use one-fifth less farm land to produce its food. This means less deforestation. It also means less greenhouse gas emissions, by as much as one-eighth of the annual emissions from automobiles. There is no other policy that a true environmentalist should support more vigorously than the transition of the rest of the world to GMO-based agriculture. [emphasis mine]
Second, genetically modified crops are not only richer, but also better. In GMO fields, there is an average 60% reduction in damaged crops (84% reduction if counting only the most advanced GMOs). None of the nutritious composition of corn is reduced. On the contrary: GMO corn was found to have one third less “mycotoxins”—poisonous chemicals introduced into the crops by insect attacks. This reduction in the contamination of grain is particularly large in developing countries, where the illnesses such contaminations cause have significant economic costs…
Finally, there is a prevailing concern that GMO agriculture uses chemicals that cause unintended environmental harms. The meta-report shows that the concern is misguided. Of all the species living in the cornfield ecology, only one family of parasitic wasps is negatively affected. Overall, there is no substantial effect on insect biodiversity. And other studies have found a dramatic reduction in the use of herbicides and insecticides…
Why are consumers oblivious to the scientific reality? The blame, in part, falls on anti-GMO propaganda. Advocacy groups that ordinarily preach for the supremacy of scientific evidence in informing public policy (climate change? gun control?) remain unshakeable by the mountains of scientific proof in this context. There is a dogmatic, almost religious, fervor in the conviction that “frankenfoods” are immoral. It seems that no quantum of evidence can budge this belief.
Consumers are also misled by opportunistic non-GMO campaigns launched by companies that know the underlying science. It is ironic that in the epicenters of such consumer demand—in elite stores that purport to sell environmentally responsible foods—there is an ongoing concerted effort to breed, rather than uproot, these irrational and harmful fears.
To be fair, this is just from a study of corn, but corn is a huge portion of the GMO food we consume. And, basically, it’s a win-win-win proposition. And, yes, it is absolutely ridiculous that across the kitchen I can see my “GMO free” baking soda (ummm, okay) and my GMO-free wheat-based cereal (there is basically no GMO wheat).
Of course there are all sorts of legitimate concerns and cautions with GMO food. Then again, there’s all sorts of concerns and cautions with all large-scale commercial agriculture. And, in an interesting footnote, it appears that Russian trolls really don’t want you eating GMO. Seriously.
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