Real Food for The Hungry Essay -- Food Science

How often do children who whine about eating their peas and carrots at the dinner table hear from their mothers, â€Å"You should appreciate the food on our table, there are starving kids in Africa.† Although parents use the preceding phrase as a guilt mechanism to trick their children into eating their veggies so they too can consume the vitamins and nutrients they need to grow, the reality behind the phrase is much deeper than most realize. People are starving in almost every part of the world and the solution to that problem has yet to be discovered. A solution that has been considered for some time now but recently has sparked more interest is the use of genetically modified foods to feed the hungry. Should genetically modified foods be trusted to be fed to the hungry? As in most arguments, there are two sides to the production on genetically modified foods. On one hand of the argument, scientists are trying to argue that GM foods are natural, grow faster, and yield a larger amount of crops during harvest. Whether or not genetically modified foods can provide more food for the hungry than a natural crop could, they come with a list of problems. Not only do they cost poor farmers a ridiculous amount of money, but they also have unsafe chemicals that affect their surroundings and, more importantly, the bodies they would be digested in. Therefore, I believe genetically modified foods are a danger to humans. Multi-national companies are pushing the engineering and selling of genetically modified foods consciously for the purpose of gaining profit. Food policy analyst Dennis T. Avery asserts that â€Å"the development of GE foods is not being driven by farmers, consumers or less-developed countries but by large multinational chemical comp... ... Modified Foods Are Not the Best Way to Feed the Hungry." Africa. Ed. Laura K. Egendorf. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2005. Opposing Viewpoints. Rpt. from "Better Dead than GM-Fed?" Seedling (Oct. 2002). Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 14 Apr. 2012. Smith, Jeffrey M. "Genetically Modified Food Threatens Human Health." Humanity's Future. Ed. Louise I. Gerdes. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2006. Opposing Viewpoints. Rpt. from "Genetically Engineered Foods May Pose National Health Risk." www.seedsofdeception.com. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 23 Apr. 2012. Union of Concerned Scientists. "The Safeness of Genetically Modified Foods Is Unproven." Genetic Engineering. Ed. Louise I. Gerdes. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2005. Opposing Viewpoints. Rpt. from "Risks of Genetic Engineering." 2007. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 23 Apr. 2012.