It could be emerging as the latest trend in cities to enjoy or cater their desires of country life, but it isn’t new in Sonoma, California. Bing, a journalist, discovered this miraculous six-acre land and its owners working hard to provide its neighborhood with pesticide-free, labor-intensive methods to farm tomatoes. The type of farming done in cities is called urban farming. Since there is no land, the food is usually cultivated on roof tops or backyards. More and more people are turning towards growing their own food. They have taken in their hands to provide their family with food grown in front of their eyes. The major reason to it; they no longer trust in what farmers are providing us with. What the farmers are providing in the name of FOOD is nothing but just technology filled crap.
Most foods that we eat now are genetically engineered or rather a term which sounds much better explanation of what it is; genetically mutated. It is the process of transferring genes of one organism into another. Traditional breeding exchanges genes between similar species. But the genetic engineering is breaking the barriers. It allows scientist to insert genes from any plant or animal into any other organism. For example, genes from a fish have been used to make a more long-lasting and durable tomato. Imagine the risk we humans are put into. Consuming that tomato could be hazardous to health. Genes can change easily. Inserting a gene of living species into a plant could create a vast amount of different viruses and impossible to treat diseases. In a cross-Canada speaking tour, Fagan, a professor of molecular biology and biochemistry at the Maharishi University of Management in Fairfield, Iowa, defined genetic engineering in following words: "It is a dangerous global experiment in the interests of short-term commercial gain by giant biotech companies which control large segments of the world's food supply." This means that a professor teaching molecular biology himself is against such engineering, but why? It isn’t tested for its long-term effects and might put us on risk of variety of health issues. The only reason it was introduced was because it could create built-in herbicides and pesticides for crops, grow larger fruits and vegetables, lengthen the duration of a foods life span and most importantly save bio-tech companies millions of dollars because of previously mentioned so-called advantages of genetically engineered foods. Who knows these foods could create what kind of health problems, bring out new allergies or have toxic effects on humans. Another one of its possible health risks is cancer.
Since the bio-tech companies are creating seeds that are genetically engineered to be resistant to herbicides and pesticides, the farmers can use more toxic weed killers. In response to this change, weeds have become resistant to herbicides and have now developed into super weeds. Now farmers are back to using high toxics to kill these weeds and even have to sometimes pull them out, which is very labor intensive. A number of recent scientific studies have linked these super weed-killers to increased risks or cancer, birth defects, and other health hazards (Cummins and Lilliston). The active ingredient in these herbicides is glyphosate. Glyphosate can create health reactions even at low dose. Its effects on animals created weight gains, diarrhea, salivary gland lesions, liver damage, cataracts, and increases in thyroid, pancreas and liver tumors. Experiments on animals usually hold true to us too. If animals can have all these health issues that means even at low consumption of glyphosate we pose a risk into creating cancer. Approximately 41% on average of Americans can expect cancer in their lifetime.
With such a massive number of Americans at risk of developing cancer, we would expect that anything that has genetic mutation done to it would be marked so. FDA (Food and Drug Administration) would have passed regulations to label GMO (Genetically Modified Organisms) foods. But the U.S Food and Drug Administration has concluded that bioengineered foods are as safe as conventional foods. If they are the same then why is it that one out of every three U.S kids currently suffers from allergies, asthma, ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), or autism and the number of children with peanut allergies actually doubled between 1997 and 2002? This is around the same time that GE (Genetically Engineered) foods were introduced in our local supermarkets without consumer’s knowledge of what it is. Labeling genetically modified foods in the United States has been a voluntary process since 1992. Current U.S. Food and Drug Administration guidelines require no labeling or additional safety testing on genetically modified foods as long as the product is found to be "substantially equivalent" to its nonmodified counterpart. Most of our foods today contain atleast one ingredient comes from genetically modified crops. The three big crops that come from genetically altered seed are corn, soybeans and canola. These are major crops that any foods are made out of. There have been great debates by consumers, and organic farmers on the labeling of such foods. Meanwhile Monsanto, the major corporation responsible for introducing genetic engineering, sues a milk producer over labeling of its dairy product. According to Monsanto Oakhurst Dairy Inc is “engaging in misleading and deceptive marketing practices by carrying labels that seem to disparage the use of artificial growth hormones in cows.” Monsanto fears that labeling products containing genetically engineered ingredient would create the image of unsafe or lower in quality food in the consumers mind. If we were to be given the opportunity to know what is in our food, we would not pick the one that Monsanto is promoting. Consumers should have the right to know and labeling should be mandatory for every product.
With such hefty concerns with what our food contains, the best alternative would be to grow it yourself. We living in cities are deprived of having a farm nearby where we could go and buy our own hand pick foods. But with the world changing, this mistrust in our farmers has caused consumers to look for ways to help ourselves and our kids eat healthy. Lynn, an urban farmer says, "Our goal simply is to be a neighborhood food source and raise the bar on the issue of traceability. We think it's important that people know where their food comes from, that they can say, 'Yes, I can see where my food is grown. It's grown right over there.'’ With this mentality urban farming has begun for people who are willing to do anything to have safe food. Agriculture is difficult to do in cities, let alone create and run a farm. There are very few of them around in New York itself. Most of these small farms are created out of backyards or roof-tops. Backyards are easy to cultivate, it is just like gardening with a little bit of more care and labor to be put into. On the other hand, roof-tops are difficult and expensive to start with. But once created, they are more efficient than conventional farming. It is easy to provide sunlight and they use less water. The soil is carpeted on the roof and seeds are sowed. Urban farming provides its farmers with food grown infront of their eyes. It is labor intensive but the outcome is worth all the hassle. With farming in our own backyard or roof-top, consumers can choose what seed they buy (definitely no use buying Roundup Ready), what pesticides or herbicides they use (which really wouldn’t be necessary to use much of, given the fact that weeds or pests aren’t likely to be attacking crops in cities), and know exactly how it is grown (be more closer to our food).
Organization like FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization) of United Nations agree and appreciate this new trend of farming our own foods in following words, “An industry that responds to the nutritional demands of a city, from within that city, with the use and reuse of that city’s resources while acknowledging…aspects of regional health, and food security.” From being just food, it has grown from being a farmers pride to factory farm system. What threats genetically engineered foods pose to our health are unimaginable. On top of that government finds it alright to let such foods be marketed and consumed by us. They agree with bio-tech companies on no need of labeling these products. It seems the government and these companies want to sit and wait on an epidemic soon to be spurring due to such transgenic foods. Even if organizations like organic groups fight for consumer rights to know what is in their food, the government still doesn’t want to take any action. The GE corporations have such huge hold on the government that they can actually control what happens, what laws pass, and even what cases to be dismissed if they could harm the reputation of the company. Thinking through all this, and knowing every food of having bio-technology or genetic alteration done to them, choosing to grow your own food seems a wiser choice.
Works Cited
· Bing, Alison. "The Patch." The New York Times. Nytimes, 18 Sept. 2010. Web. 15 Nov. 2010. <http://www.nytimes.com/glogin?URI=http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/19/us/19bcintel.html&OQ=_rQ3D3Q26refQ3Durban_agriculture&OP=608aeb09Q2FQ3ExK%28Q3ETp!4Q3Cppu,Q3E,OlOQ3EOQ2BQ3ElQ2BQ3EY4Q3ElQ2B%28!jmuKvZruQ7Cv>.
· Cummins, Ronnie, and Ben Lilliston. Genetically Engineered Food; A Self-defense Guide for Consumers. 2nd ed. Pg 47. New York: Marlow & Company, 2004. Print.
· Guevarra, Leslie. "A Vision for a Commercial-Scale Rooftop 'Farm' Nears Completion | Buildings | GreenBiz.com." Green Business News, Resources, and Sustainability Career Tools | Business | GreenBiz.com. 11 Nov. 2010. Web. 15 Nov. 2010. <http://www.greenbiz.com/blog/2010/11/11/vision-commercial-scale-rooftop-farm-nears-completion>.
· "Invasion of the Superweeds." The New York Times. Ed. The Editors. Nytimes, 06 May 2010. Web. 15 Nov. 2010. <http://roomfordebate.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/06/invasion-of-the-superweeds/?ref=energy-environment>.
· Sand, Peter H. "Labeling Genetically Modified Food: The Right to Know." Review of European Community & International Environmental Law 15.2 (2006): 185-92. Academic Search Complete. Web. 15 Nov. 2010. <http://web.ebscohost.com.rpa.laguardia.edu:2048/ehost/detail?vid=12&hid=8&sid=47afac5d-5916-4a11-a168-661a03c7268b%40sessionmgr13&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=a9h&AN=22226829#db=a9h&AN=22226829>.
· United States. U.S Department of Health and Human Services. United States Cancer Statistics. Center for Disease Control, 2007. Web. 15 Nov. 2010. <http://www.cdc.gov/cancer/npcr/npcrpdfs/US_Cancer_Statistics_2004_Incidence_and_Mortality.pdf>.
· United States. Unites States Department of Agriculture. Labeling GMO Foods. By Melinda Hemmelgarn. 08 Feb. 2010. Web. 15 Nov. 2010. http://www.usda.gov/open/Ideas.nsf/0/218F694C86E8DF8D862576C400220560?opendocument
· "Urban Agriculture." Wikipedia. Web. 15 Nov. 2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_agriculture>.
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