COLUMN: GMOs not end of the world

Paul Christiansen, columnist

News broke last week that British scientists have been developing a substance that produces high levels of anthocyanins, a pigment found in fruits such as cranberries, blackberries and blueberries. But the pigment does much more than just lend a distinct hue to a few berries; it also helps increase visual acuteness, combat obesity and diabetes and has anti-inflammatory capabilities shown to slow down the spread of cancer in laboratory mice.

It all sounds pretty good to me, and I think it probably sounds pretty good to you as well, my fellow Aggies.

But what if I told you this beneficial substance was one of those dreaded GMOs – genetically modified organisms – you often hear horror stories about? Would you be deterred by the fact that scientists genetically modified regular red tomatoes by adding the purple pigment from the antirrhinum genus of plants, better known as snapdragons?

Pop culture provides negative connotations we associate with genetic engineering. These have largely been brought about by amazing – as seen in the film “Jurassic Park” – and ridiculous – such as seen in Adrien Brody’s “Splice” – scientific ideas.

I, for one, am not bothered by this fact, and I made this publicly known earlier this week via a civil disagreement on Facebook. In that conversation, the person I was arguing with attempted to tell me GMOs are the leading cause of cancer in the world and engineered by greedy, bloodthirsty corporations only out to make a quick buck. I was then told everyone in America needs to go back to family farming in order to shut down these large-scale industrial farms.

I’m a journalist; facts are kind of what I’ve been brought up on, and I’m not one for fear-mongering or widespread farce. I think it’s safe to assume most who read my weekly column are well aware of my political, moral and ideological beliefs. I did not vote for Willard “Mitt” Romney in the 2012 presidential election, I do not believe corporations are people and I am largely against the schemes and profiteering associated with American capitalism.

That being said, large-scale farming is here to stay, folks. And it’s allowing a lot of good, old-fashioned Americans – and a lot of Utahns – to live their lives doing what they’ve  been doing for years.

When I think about farming, I see men and women who have put their blood, sweat and tears into their work. They tirelessly toil in their day-to-day routine to plant, weed, water, grow and harvest  the crops they can then sell and distribute to the stores where we shop. But farming has taken a hit over the years economically and is no longer the lucrative business it once was. In order to stay afloat, those farmers could no longer only grow small crops to feed their families and small communities.

This is where the fickle entity of big business stepped in. Industries began funding farms, causing a shift to large operations. This killed two birds with one stone: It allowed farmers to continue living the way they had always done while simultaneously providing food to those like me who don’t have the land, time, knowledge and ability to grow our own food.

The times have changed, that’s obvious. Whether or not it’s because of cultural shifts in everyday life or unfettered laziness in the majority of society is a different subject entirely. No, it’s not the way it used to be, but nothing is.

GMOs are picking up the slack where traditional and modern farming fall short, making up nearly 70 percent of the food in your local supermarket. While that might alarm some of us, there is no conclusive scientific evidence to suggest these types of foods are any more dangerous than those that come from traditional means of production. In fact, there’s an overwhelming amount of consensus for this idea among scientists.

Where the problem lies is in the hundreds of millions of pounds of pesticides used to treat these GMO crops. Whereas these chemicals will kill weeds and insects, the genetically-altered crops remain intact. While I think this is something that needs work, the crops themselves are not what’s harmful.

But I digress.

These super tomatoes are being produced as a means of treatment, destined to aid those suffering from cancer. These aren’t even your typical type of GMOs; rather, they’re being created for a homeopathic medicinal use rather than a nutritional food supply. For all you hipsters and hippies so opposed to GMOs because you think they cause all the health problems, I only ask you to provide me some proof. Perhaps you should also consider what this small, purple tomato could potentially do for humanity.  

– Paul is the former features editor of The Utah Statesman and is a senior majoring in print journalism. Send any comments to paul.r.christiansen@aggiemail.usu.edu.