Presentation on the history of GMOs the political

1. GENETICALLY
MUTATED ORGANISMS

2. A quick introduction…
https://youtu.be/utgko60C9JE

3. What exactly is a GMO?
• GMOs are organisms whose genetic material has been
artificially manipulated in a laboratory through genetic
engineering. This includes any plants, animals, or even
bacteria that are altered in a way that cannot be found in
nature or traditional cross-breeding methods.

4. The Crops
• The commercial use of GMO’s focuses on four crops:
Soy, Maize, Rapeseed, and Cotton. Below are the
percentages of how much each crop cultivated worldwide
is genetically mutated.
Soy 79% Cotton 70%
Maize 32% Rapeseed 24%

5. Why GMOs?
• Companies involved in
the biotech industry,
such as Monsanto,
DOW, Cargill, ConAgra
and Syngenta, believe
GMOs provide the
following benefits:
higher crop yields, bug
and pesticide resistant
crops, improved
nutritional content and
improved flavor.

6. Opponents of GMOs
The cons of consuming
GMOs:
• GMOs are unhealthy.
Doctors have cited animal
studies showing organ
damage, gastrointestinal
damage, and immune system
disorders.
• Independent research is
threatened, defunded, and
suppressed by corporations.
• Government regulation is lax
on GMOs.
GMOs increase herbicide

7. The Companion Herbicide
Many of these companies
have developed
“companion herbicides”
and pesticides including
Monsanto’s glyphosate-
based Roundup.
Opponents of GMOs have
linked Roundup to sterility,
hormone disruption, birth
defects, and cancer.

8. Reap What You Sow
The seeds are planted just
like regular seeds…except
there’s a catch. Farmers
who plant GMO seeds
sometimes get caught in a
bind when they use what is
called a “terminator seed.”
This is a type of seed that
only produces sterile seeds,
forcing farmers to purchase
new seeds each year
instead of “saving seed,” a
practice that has been apart
of the farming community
for thousands of years.

9. Patent Infringement
• Some farmers have
successfully saved seed.
In turn, they fall under the
hand of these large
companies that decide to
sue these farmers on
grounds of “patent
infringement.” Victims of
these lawsuits have even
happened upon these
GMO seeds by accident,
where the seed had drifted
into their land from
neighboring farmers.

10. India’s Harvest of Death
According to a report by the Daily
Mail, the use of Monsanto’s BT cotton
in 2002, one of their other GMO
products, spiraled India’s farming
community into a restless cycle of
debt. The monopoly of the GM seed
has forced farmers to buy Monsanto’s
costly seed and pesticide. The high
cost of the seed and pesticide as well
as the huge reduction in crop value
have left farmers in debt. According to
DM, a farmer commits suicide every
30 minutes in India. In the past
decade, more than 250,000 farmers
have committed suicide. Some even
resort to drinking Monsanto’s
pesticide that is sent to the farmer’s
for cultivating their crop.

11. Just Label It
Why Label?
Unlike most developed
other nations (28 to be
exact), the U.S. does
not require food to be
labeled GMO or non-
GMO. Supporters of
labeling believe we as
consumers have the
right to know about
what goes into our food.

12. The DARK Act
The Denying Americans
the Right to Know
(DARK) Act is backed
by large biotech and
food corporations to halt
other legislation that
would mandate food
labeling. Opponents of
labeling include
corporation such as
Kraft, Kellogg’s, and
Monsanto.

13. Sources
• http://www.conchovalleyhomepage.com/green-right-
now/grn-blog/the-backlash-against-gmo-crops-in-
america_20150723004901987
• http://responsibletechnology.org/10-reasons-to-avoid-
gmos/
• http://www.who.int/foodsafety/areas_work/food-
technology/faq-genetically-modified-food/en/
• http://www.seattleorganicrestaurants.com/vegan-whole-
foods/indian-farmers-committing-suicide-monsanto-gm-
crops/