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agricultural genetic engineering
agricultural genetic engineering
agricultural genetic engineering
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Biotechnology has been lauded as the future of agriculture. However, the business leaders and scientists involved in biotech did not predict how controversial genetically modified foods would be. Despite all the promises and merits proclaimed by research by different biotech companies and the governments like reduced pesticide usage, higher crop yields, the controversy surrounding its application to food production persists in many nations. One of the key issues that have surrounded the GM debate is the labeling of GM products. While some countries require the labeling of such products, others do not. This paper examines how labeling of genetically modified foods affects consumer willingness to purchase such products. By reviewing past research on the issue, the paper unearths that labeling is an important considerations for consumers when buying genetically modified products. The paper argues that labeling of GM products significantly affects the willingness of consumers to buy such products.
The increasing controversy over GM food products and consumers’ attempt to make better food purchasing decisions have raised interest in new objective information, including food labeling. Labeling has become a crucial public policy issue all over the globe. In the US particularly, truthful labeling has been used to offer consumers with information on calories, nutrients, as well as food ingredients (Caswell 23). However, the federal government requires explicit labeling in cases where a genetically modified food has different characteristics relative to the non-GM version of the product. In contrast, the European Commission demands each member state to implement a legislation requiring labeling of all new products that contain GM organisms...
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...or in not only determining the consumer’s decision to buy the product, but also how much he or she is willing to pay for it.
Works Cited
Caswell, Josh. "Should Use of Genetically Modified Organisms Be Labeled?"AgBioForum 1998 1:22-24.
Huffman, Wallace, Jason Shogren, Matthew Rousu and Abebayehu Tegene. Consumer Willingness To Pay For Genetically Modified Food Labels In Market With Diverse Information: Evidence From Experimental Auctions. Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics 2003 28(3): 481-502.
List, Joseph and Jason Shogren. "Price Information and Bidding Behavior in Repeated Second- Price Auctions."American Journal of Agricultural Economics 1999 81:942-49.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Guidance for Industry: Voluntary Labeling Indicating Whether Foods Have or Have Not Been Developed Using Bioengineering. 2001. Online. 7 December 2013.
Food is an essential part of everyday life without it one could not survive. Every day we make choices on what we put in to our bodies. There are countless varieties of food to choose from to meet the diverse tastes of the increasing population. Almost all food requires a label explaining the ingredients and the nutritional value allowing consumers to make informed decisions on what they are consuming. However, many may not be considering where that food is coming from or how it has been produced. Unfortunately, there is more to food than meets the eye. Since 1992, “ the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ruled, based on woefully limited data, that genetically modified foods were ‘substantially equivalent’ to their non-GM counterparts” (Why to Support Labeling). GM food advocates have promised to create more nutritious food that will be able to grow in harsh climate conditions and eventually put an end to world hunger in anticipation of the growing population. There is very little evidence to support these claims and study after study has proven just the opposite. GM crops are not only unsafe to consume, but their growing practices are harmful to the environment, and multinational corporations are putting farmers out of business.
A very valid point brought up by Clause (Say ‘no’), Hemphill, and Banerjee (both G.M.O. and the U.S.), is that consumers already have an easy and effective option to steer clear from GMOs: buying organic products. Through Hemphill’s and Banerjee’s article, we are informed that United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) “presently offers an organic certification for crops and processed food products, which by definition prohibits the use of GMO ingredients” (Page 455-466). This is certainly a label that has the ability to help concerned customers know exactly what they are eating. The co-authors call this solution the “Voluntary Labeling Strategy.” There is, however, one issue with this: not all products that don't contain GMOs qualify as organic. The resolution lies in an upcoming proposal from the U.S. Food and Drug administration (FDA). It's called “Voluntary Guidelines” and it allows, but doesn't force, GMO-free products to display a label of their own. I believe that this is a much smarter option than labeling every item containing GMOs because it is not binding by law, which would provide consumers with all of the benefits they need to choose the right foods for their preferences, while saving on all of the unnecessary extra costs discussed
The technological advances are increasing each year, and electronics are not the only things upgraded. The food eaten in the United States has also been touched by science in the form of GMOs. Although GMOs have been in the US food industry for almost twenty years, consumers should have the right to know what is in our food with mandatory GMO labeling.
Senauer, Benjamin. “Mandatory Labeling of Genetically Engineered (GE) Foods: The Showdown Begins.” Choices. 2013. Web. 2 May. 2014.
Until the government creates mandates for issuing labels on foods that contain genetically modified ingredients, there are measures that can be taken by common citizens and supporters of GMO labeling in order to keep Americans safe in the meantime. Since “study after study points to potential health risks” (“Whole Foods Market”), supporters need to raise awareness amongst the rest of society in order to generate a large group that can begin to press the government to create a law to handle the issue. It is in “the state’s interest [to] protect consumers from false or potentially misleading communication or prevent consumers from suffering unwitting harms” (Adler). Moreover, the government must be the one to put an official end to the lack of
Our attitudes toward GMO foods range from hostility to indifference. GMO foods, like pesticide-resistant Roundup Ready soybeans and fast-growing salmon, seem to exist primarily to pad corporate pockets. Most people are not aware that they are eating GMO foods. The greater percentage of the population is just looking at the price tag instead of what is in the food product. This technology has the potential to provide sustainable nutrient rich food sources throughout the ages if the science is not abused for the food industry’s
A trip to any supermarket in Canada will reveal nothing out of ordinary, just the usual of array of fresh and packaged goods displayed in an inviting manner to attract customers. Everything appear familiar and reassuring, right? Think again. A closer microscopic inspection discloses something novel, a fundamental revolution in food technology. The technology is genetic engineering (GE), also known as biotechnology. Blue prints (DNA) of agricultural crops are altered and “spliced” with foreign genes to produce transgenic crops. Foods harvested from these agricultural plants are called, genetically modified (GM). Presently, Canada has no consumer notification; GM foods are being slipped to Canada’s foods without any labels or adequate risk assessments. This essay argues that GM foods should be rigorously and independently tested for safety; and, consumers be given the right to choose or reject GM foods through mandatory labels. What is the need for impartial examination of safety of transgenic foods? And why label them? GM foods are not “substantially equivalent” to conventional foods, genetic engineering of agricultural crops is not a mere extension of traditional plant breeding, and finally, there are human health implications associated with it.
...e are several complex issues that require resolving prior to implementation. The target of most labeling efforts is food products that contain genes artificially inserted from another organism. However, in some legislative proposals, the term “genetically modified” is more broadly defined to include a variety of techniques that were used by plant breeders and farmers well before the GE era. The commonly accepted threshold level is 1 percent. In other words, if any ingredient of a product has more than one percent GE content, then the product needs labeling. One percent is the threshold level used in Australia and New Zealand while the European Union has decided on a level of 0.9 percent. Japan has a five percent threshold but thresholds as low as 0.01 percent have been recommended. However, the biological reasoning for such a requirement has not been demonstrated.
The use of GMOs in foods has drastically risen in the United States. The Non-GMO project, a non-profit organization supports this by saying, “In the U.S., GMOs are in as much as 80% of conventional processed food”(Non-GMO Project). I decided to go shopping to try and find as many products as I could that were labeled GMO-free, I only found one product labeled GMO-free. Many people that purchase vegetables or fruits at the store are unaware that the foods they ar...
In the U.S., GM foods have received little public opposition; this is largely due to the fact that food manufacturers are not required to label their products as containing genetically modified ingredients for fear of confusing consumers. Due to the lack of evidence that genetically altered foods are harmful, the Food and Drug Administration considers GM foods to be “generally regarded as safe” (known as GRAS) and no special labeling is required (Falkner 103). In the U.S., genetically modified crops are monitored by t...
Robert M. Hutchins, known for his contributions to philosophy, said that, “A civilization in which there is not a continuous controversy about important issues is on the way to totalitarianism and death.” While I do not necessarily agree with the former, or the latter, for that matter (no rhyme intended), it is imperative for us, as people, regardless of nationality, to ask questions. On the topic of important issues are genetically modified foods. The specific tangent on genetically modified foods is the question of whether or not genetically modified foods should have mandatory labeling. Instead of being a staunch absolutist and deciding so hastily on the matter of GMOs, the merits and drawbacks of this issue need to be discussed.
...eys were conducted in several countries including the United States and the United Kingdom, in which participants were asked whether they desired their country to mandate foods containing genetically modified components be labeled as so. Well over half the participants in the United States agreed labeling should be mandatory, more so than in the United Kingdom. Despite the United States having a greater percentage of the population saying they would like labeled foods than in the United Kingdom, the UK forces labeling while the US does not (Zepeda). People who campaign for mandatory labeling wonder why the United States does not do so, despite other countries doing so with less concern from the public. These proponents feel that using studies showing the public opinion would provide sufficient encouragement to the government to consider the issue more thoroughly.
Consumer demand of labeling practices is in direct opposition to what the pro-GMO activists believe to be in the public’s best interest. Very little research has been published with regards to labeling products and how the design and wording has the potential to positively or negatively affect the consumer. GMO lobbyists are resisting the mandatory labeling practice of GMOs...
With all of the controversy surrounding GMO foods: health versus biodiversity; benefits versus dangers; pros versus cons, a topic that always arises is the subject of labeling. Labeling has been a matter of discussion for years and
Every day, customers at grocery stores are paying high prices for specially labeled food products. Food companies advertise to consumers by using phrases like “free of pesticides, GMOs, growth hormones, gluten, and fat”, or “grown organically, naturally, or locally” to make a greater profit. Sometimes the companies hides the usage of certain food enhancers, so they can produce more for a cheaper price. The general public is not only misled by the absence of warning labels, but also by the expensively labeled food products, causing misguided customers buying and consuming products they are trying to avoid.