General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Over 80 percent of Americans support "mandatory labels on foods containing DNA" [View all]jeff47
(26,549 posts)Where would you like to draw the line on what is a GMO and what is not?
I presume you're wanting to label glyphosate-resistant crops. How about other crops?
What if the modifications just make the plant more drought-tolerant? Label or no?
Should plants with the Bt gene be labeled? The Bt gene occurs in a species of very common soil bacteria. It causes an insecticide effect. Do we need to label the plants that have Bt inserted? How should we label the crops that are sprayed with the Bt bacteria?
How about Golden Rice? It's had a gene inserted that causes it to produce vitamin A, a common malnutrition problem outside the developed world. Should that be labeled just like Round-Up ready crops? Or is the fact that the gene was inserted by a non-profit organization mean it's ok?
How about crops that are utterly artificial creations of mankind? Like corn. Yes, all corn is artificial. We took a plant that was only vaguely like corn, and turned it into a plant that can not survive without humans cultivating it. Without humans, ears of corn will not distribute the seeds widely, causing all of the offspring to grow in one place. And packed that close together none of them can grow healthy enough to reproduce. Label or no? After all, we modified the hell out of its genes.
Saying "This contains GMOs" doesn't actually tell you anything. To make a rational decision, you need to know what the modifications are. And have sufficient science education to understand what those modifications mean.