Potty Mouth

1. Potty Mouth Contributors: Jamie Migliaccio, Isabella Ciano, Chase Lopez, Ali Wallace, Ashley Ahlers, Tamara Mahony

2. SHOULD WE GIVE GM FOODS A CHANCE? (This one deals with the positives- fairness)  YES!- When hearing the phrase genetically modified food, people tend to be scared. They are not all bad however. GM foods can actually be very beneficial to the body. By giving GM foods a fair chance, we can see how they can be benefit our bodies as well as the environment. Since scientists can manipulate these genes, they can add so many different things into these plants that they wouldn’t have naturally. The things they add help the plants grow, but they could also be beneficial to our bodies. For example, they add genes that make the plants resistant to pests as well as weeds. This diminishes the need for farmers to spray harmful pesticides and herbicides on the plants. According to a National Geographic article, scientists see a real helpful future in genetically modifying foods. Some examples they give are fruits and vegetables that have cancer fighting genes, vitamin enhancements, that are free of allergens and others with therapeutic ingredients. DO I REALLY WANT TO EAT THAT?” RESPONSIBILITY- Whether or not to eat GM foods can be a difficult decision. It mainly comes down to how you feel about the way they are made and if you feel a responsibility to the environment. By genetically modifying these foods we are cloning them thus eliminates diversity in their natural ecosystem. Because genetically modifying food is a relatively new system we do not know fully what this inbreeding will do to natural ecosystems.

3. GM FOODS: ETHICAL OR NAH? The ethical dilemmas with GM foods are numerous. First off, most people don’t feel comfortable with the term “manipulating” and “genetically modifying” the food that we eat, but that’s what’s happening to almost 75% of our food. Farmers can add so many different types of resistant's and repellents to all kinds of food, but how can you tell what’s ethical and what’s not? It’s not necessarily going against any laws, but is putting unnatural food into our bodies not morally correct? Who’s to say. For example, a farmer can produce drought-resistant crop through "traditional" methods of genetic modification which involves crosses with resistant varieties, selection, and backcrossing. “Modern” biotechnology can speed up this process by identifying the particular genes associated with drought resistance and inserting them directly. According to YPTE, so far there is no evidence of GM food being harmful to humans, however, the rules governing their testing are pretty strict. One of the most important ethical dilemmas to bring up is the topic of labeling. Most of the time in supermarkets, GM foods are not labeled so there’s no way to really tell what’s in the food you’re purchasing. Overall, GM foods are not necessarily bad, but allowing the expansion of GM crop planting and use in our food without proper knowledge as to the effects, is pretty dangerous. Deciding whether GM foods are ethical or unethical, however, is pretty much up to the consumer’s discretion

4. TO EAT GM FOODS OR TO NOT EAT GM FOODS It is always easiest to share the same beliefs as those who surround us. For example, if all of your best friends were into eating organic, chances are, you would be influenced by them to do the same. Although empathy can play a big role in the types of foods we eat, it is crucial that everyone has the right information they need to make an informed decision on their own.  Although there are some clear benefits to GM foods, there are also many benefits to eating organic, more than just the fact that all your best friends do it. Eating organic is very helpful to the environment because farmers are not using harmful chemical pesticides on their crops, they let them grow naturally. Also, foods that are grown organically are better for our bodies because there is nothing added to them. We are not ingesting strange or extra large DNA that otherwise wouldn’t be there in the first place. FACT OR FICTION: “We know the long term outcomes of GM foods” FICTION- Short term, GM foods seems like a great alternative to pesticides and a more sure way to know our food will come out looking and tasting perfect, free of harmful chemicals. However, since it is still somewhat new, we don’t exactly know the long- term effects it will have on theenvironment and even on ourselves. When eating genetically modified food, some strands of DNA are too large and skip the digestion process, making their way straight into the circulatory system without being broken down. Although GM foods have been around for a while, they have not been around long enough to know if they really are as dangerous as some people seem. There have beeninstances where GM foods have been released before they were ready and proved to be toxic and “not for human consumption”.

5. Am I A bad person if I eat GM Foods? CHARACTER- Eating GM foods does not make you a bad person but they are not good for your body and the environment. Many of the long term effects have not yet been explored but the short term effects are very apparent. These GM foods are super pumped with vitamins and nutrients so we are getting way too much of these nutrients and vitamins. Also insecticidal genes are manipulated to manifest in these plants and we do not know the effects of the genes if we eat them a lot over time. It has been shown in rat experiments that it causes tumors.  Also as stated before genetically modified foods destroy biodiversity in our ecosystems. So I do not think that eating genetically modified foods makes you a bad person? No! but if we all just ate a little for non-GM foods it would probably help with some of these issues. • POTTY MOUTH BY THE NUMBERS: • 60-70% of foods in the grocery stores have genetically modified ingredients • The ISAAA (International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications) states that there are approximately 1.2 billion acres of GM crops grown around the world, with more than 80 types of GM crops