BY MARK LORENTZ
As a society, we embrace science as it helps combat cancer, diabetes and other diseases.
We have no problem thanking scientists as we walk out of the hospital, so it’s about time we start thanking them as we walk out of the grocery store as well.
The United Nations predicts the world population will grow to nine billion by 2050. As more and more developing countries gain wealth, their appetite for meat, wheat and other grains is expected to rise between 70 and 100 per cent.
The only problem is, as their demand grows, actual supplies are diminishing.
Climate change is likely to make the problem far worse, bringing higher temperatures, and in many regions, wetter conditions that spread infestations of disease and insects into new areas.
Drought, damaging storms and very hot days are already taking a toll on crop yields. The world is a ticking time bomb.
Currently farmers can meet the demand, however, by 2050, Dr. Eduardo Blumwald, a lead scientist in genetically modified foods from the University of California, said in an article posted on seedcentral.org, “It would be impossible to reach the demand, given the current output even at maximum levels.”
In the past year, Google co-founder Sergey Brin funded the majority of the research and development of the world’s first beef burger made strictly from stem cells.
A team from Maastricht University located in the Netherlands produced the five-ounce burger for $364,000 Cdn, a far cry from the dollar menu at McDonalds.
However, if one of the world’s leading entrepreneurs can see the importance of genetically modified organisms (GMO) so should we.
I believe anything that helps sustain the population, feed starving people and progress society as a whole should be welcomed with open arms. Those who fear the repercussion of consuming food grown in a lab instead of the field are missing the point completely. Many oppose genetically modified food because they want to prevent corporations from controlling the homeland of underdeveloped nations or destroying the natural environments.
They also fear how GMO will affect the human body down the road. However, the benefits of GMO far outweigh the risks. If we want the Earth to continue the path it is on, GMO isn’t just an option it’s a solution.
Protesters can complain about GMO all they want, but the truth of the matter is it is already here. Surveys show that an estimated 170 million hectares of transgenic crops are grown worldwide, with no signs of slowing down.
Science in the name of progress should never be hindered, nor should it be seen as a negative. So, the next time you’re in the grocery store, buy those tomatoes with pride, after all, you’re saving the world.
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