By Julie Peterson
People use photos like this to deliberately create fear about GMOs. Non-GMO proponents use consumer misconceptions to stoke fears about food safety. Why? Because it helps them sell non-GMO products.
GMOs aren’t unsafe, and they aren’t created by injecting mysterious substances into your food. And in fact, there’s no such thing as a genetically modified tomato!
Every major scientific body agrees that GMOs are safe to eat, and more than 3,000 studies and 280 science institutions back that up. Genetic modification can actually make foods safer, by decreasing pesticide use.
Genetic modification is simply another breeding tool. In fact, most foods we eat in modern society were genetically modified at some point in history, through selective breeding over thousands of years. How do you think we got seedless watermelon?
Genetic modification allows farmers to be more efficient. Farmers today use less land, water and energy to grow more food than in the past. The average U.S. farmer feeds 155 people, according to the USDA.
Farmers work hard every day to grow enough food to feed the planet – and genetic modification helps them do that. We all want to feed our families safe, healthy and affordable food – and GMOs are exactly that.
Julie and her husband, Carl, own and operate Peterson Farms Seed near Harwood, N.D. They also recently shared a post on Facebook relating to Bill Gates' endorsement of GMOs.