What's a GMO?

G-M-O.  What the heck does that mean?  A GMO is a Genetically Modified Organism.  Wikipedia defines a GMO as an organism whose genetic material has been altered using genetic engineering techniques.  Sounds like really cool science, huh?

I first became aware of GMOs when I was in college in the 1990's.  In 1999, I was a "cotton scout" where I surveyed cotton fields for bug infestations in Southeast Georgia.  While doing that, I was told that some of the cotton being grown was "Roundup resistant".  That sounded pretty cool:  to think that you could make a plant be resistant to an herbicide, thus helping the farmers keep their crops weeded without hours of backbreaking labor.  Years later I figured out that Roundup resistant cotton is a GMO.  Now weeds (especially pigweed) have naturally modified themselves to also be Roundup resistant.  Scientists and farmers are looking for a new way to kill the weeds instead of the cotton.  The moral of that story for me is that GMOs seemed like an awesome new development for the farmers, but within 15 years it isn't working for them any more.  So was it worth it?  We now have mutated weeds because of a GMO.

GMOs scare me.  I would prefer to not eat any plant or animal that has had its cells played with in a laboratory.  I'd like to eat Mother Nature's design.  That seems to have worked pretty well until this century.  However, I understand that our world's population is around 7 billion people, and we all need to eat.  It may logistically not be possible to feed everyone without the benefit of science and GMOs.  Also, other people think GMO's are great, and they don't at all mind eating them.  My problem is that I want to choose, and I don't know which foods are GMOs.  The big GMO companies and the government seem to think that I don't need to know this information.  There is a growing movement to label foods as GMOs, and all I am asking for is the information to make my own decision.  

In California citizens will soon vote on Proposition 37, which requires labeling of GMOs.  http://www.marketplace.org/topics/sustainability/california-considers-gmo-labeling.  It is interesting to watch the virulent campaign by big GMO companies (such as Monsanto) to stop this proposition.  What do they have to hide?  Most likely people will buy their GMO products any way, and they won't mind the label.  Shouldn't Monsanto be proud to label its food, since it is a GMO company and their products are absolutely safe?  Makes me wonder....