GMO: From Plants to Meat to People

Last quarter, for my women's studies class, we were split up into groups and each group was assigned a book to read and present on.  My group was assigned Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver.  The book chronicled her and her families journey through a year of food.  They vowed to eat only local foods in order to limit their impact on the environment and be pesticide free.

For my section of the project, I talked about genetic modification and how that relates to not only food -- as was discussed in the book -- but also people which related it back to the class; Women's Health.

Today's entry will be my section of our report.  Enjoy.
 
GENETIC MODIFICATION:  FROM PLANTS TO MEAT TO PEOPLE
      When Barbara Kingsolver, her husband Steven, and their family decided they wanted to embark on a year long journey to abstain from processed, out of season foods and only eat local and organic food -- much of which they grew themselves on their farm -- they agreed to forego genetically modified foods.  Genetic modification (GM) is the "direct manipulation of genes spliced into the chromosomes of plants, and vice versa" (47).  Genetically modified crops serve many purposes; they can grow faster and allow crops to grow out of season.  This allows people to eat the same produce all year round.  Apples, for instance, which are in season in Fall and Winter, are always available in grocery stores.  Strawberries, a summer berry, can also be purchased all year -- albeit at astronomical prices.  Bananas, which are not even grown in the United States, too, can be purchased any given day, all over the country.  Genetically modifying these crops allows the grower to grow them during times of the year when they are not in season and also expands their shelf life so the produce can travel long distances to get to the consumer -- bananas, for example, are trucked up from Mexico.  In her book, Animal, Vegetable, Mineral, Barbara explains the detrimental effects of transporting food over long distances: carbon emissions, gasoline, etc.
      Genetic modification, however, primarily benefits the large companies who own the patent to the genetic mutation:  "The ultimate unnatural product of genetic engineering is a 'terminator gene' that causes a crop to commit genetic suicide after one generation" (47).  This allows the company who owns the patent to the seeds to prevent the farmer from saving seeds and using them in another harvest; by forcing the farmers to buy more seeds every harvest, the companies make more money.  The terminator gene offers no nutritional benefit to the crop, and in turn, the consumer.  The opposite of genetically modified seeds/crops, are heirloom seeds/crops.  These are seeds that are in their natural form.  These open-pollinated heirlooms are collected by farmers like jewels.  They behave the same way natural selection does; the crops best attributes are reproduced in subsequent generations.  In the book, Barbara talks about heirloom vegetables and how important they are to farmers.  Unlike seeds with the terminator gene, these seeds can be saved from the fruit of one crop to be used in the next season and can continue indefinitely.
      Plants, however, are not the only genetically modified food being produced.  CAFO, or Factory Farms, account for a majority of the meat consumed in the United States.  CAFO stands for Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations and make up approximately 15% of all AFO's -- CAFO's are AFO's that meet certain EPA criteria.  The EPA.gov (for the actual link, check the References section) site defines AFO's as "agricultural operations where animals are kept and raised in confined situations.  AFO's congregate animals, feed, manure and urine, dead animals, and production operations on a small land area.  Feed is brought to the animals rather than the animals seeing feed in pastures, fields, or on rangeland."  CAFO meat is dramatically different from free-range and grass finished meat.  The CAFO animals themselves are dramatically overweight and are pumped full of hormones and antibiotics.  These additives carry over into the meat that people consume, effecting human health.
In the informational essays Steven Hopp includes in Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, he discusses the complaints of opponents of CAFO have:

1. The treatment of CAFO animals:  the animals are packed tightly -- often unable to turn around.  According to Steve, a six-foot-by-eight-foot room can house 1,152 chickens.
2. Pollution:  putting so many animals in a small space produces huge volumes of excrement, creating waste storage and water quality problems.  "CAFO animals in the United States produce about six times the volume of fecal matter of all humans on our planet.  Animals on pasture, by contrast, enrich the soil" (91).  The water and soil become toxic which affects the crops that come in contact with the contaminated soil and water.
3. Health:  confined animals are stressed and given antibiotics to ward off disease.  "Nearly three-quarters of all antibiotics in the United States are used in CAFO's" (91).  The problem with antibiotics is that the bacteria become resistant to the antibiotics -- the antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria that grow in CAFO conditions are a significant new threat to humans (91).  In addition, the CAFO animals are all being fed corn -- even the fish -- which they are not evolved to eat, compromising their immune system and in turn creating strains of viruses that would not be present if the animals were being fed what they are evolved to eat. 

       Similarly to the way seeds have been genetically altered, animals too, have been bred certain ways in order to benefit the companies that produce the CAFO meat.  In Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, Barbara Kingsolver raises a flock of turkeys in order to start a breeding flock.  In her experiment to start her flock, Barbara receives a first hand demonstration of the consequences of CAFO breeding.  Since the animals are so tightly packed, in factory farms, it is beneficial for production for them to be docile so that they can gain weight.  "Genes that make turkeys behave like animals are useless to a creature packed wing-to-wing with thousands of others, and might cause it to get uppity or suicidal, so those genes have been bred out of the pool" (90).  When Barbara is trying to get her turkeys to mate so that she can have her flock, she chronicles how difficult it was for the turkeys to figure out what they were supposed to do -- these weren't even the wide-breasted turkeys that the factory farms use.
      In order to keep the animals docile, traits like intelligence and the ability to reproduce naturally have been bred out -- Barbara notes that a friend told her that she has seen turkeys drown because they looked up when it was raining.  The animals are unable to reproduce naturally because their legs are not strong enough to hold up their unnaturally giant bodies and the instincts that would encourage them to mate have been suppressed.  All industrialized turkeys -- CAFO -- are artificially inseminated, given growth hormones and antibiotics, and do not live to be a year old.  Cows are sent from farmers to the factory farms when they are only a few months old and then immediately fattened up for slaughter.
     CAFO came into existence as part of the switch from naturally based farming to a highly mechanized production system that utilizes genetic modification as well as synthetic pesticides and fertilizers.  This is in stark contrast to the family run organic farms that Barbara and her family frequent.  U.S. farmers now produce 3,900 calories per citizen, per day (twice the amount the human body needs and 700 more calories than were being grown in 1980).
      In response to the increased amount of calories being produced, the food industry found ways to get those extra 700 calories in to the bodies of people who may not want them.  The most genetically modified crops -- and the ones that make up for most of those forced 700 calories -- are corn and soybeans.  Corn is especially prominent in everything from high-fructose corn syrup to packaging materials (contains cornstarch).  Soybeans, as well, have found their way to imitating animal flesh and/or fall under the category of "added fats." 
     Serving sizes and packaging have grown to accommodate the excess calories.  The Coke bottle, for example, went from 8 oz. to 20oz.  "U.S. consumption of 'added fats' has increased one-third since 1975, and our HFCS is up by 1000 percent" (14).  Due to evolving in "lean environments," humans have a genetic weakness for fats and sugars.  Although they may not be familiar with the science, the food companies hire strategists to figure out how to market the calorie surplus to people.  Kids are the primary demographic, "food companies spend over $10 billion a year selling food brands to kids, and it isn't broccoli they're pushing" (15).  This is similar to how cigarettes are often pushed on kids.  As a result, the waistlines of Americans are growing.  Diet trends are rampant as well as plastic surgery.  Just as we modify our food, we modify ourselves. 
Not only does the lower nutrition in GM food impact our health, -- obesity, heart disease, high cholesterol, etc. -- it also affects our body image.  Elayne A. Saltzberg and Joan C. Chrisler, in their article "Beauty Is the Beast:  Psychological Effects of the Pursuit of the Perfect Female Body," examine how body image has changed over the years and how people augment their bodies to fit the contemporary idea of beauty. 

• Dieting is a $30-billion-per-year industry.
• Cosmetic Surgery (women) $1.2 billion in 1990.
• Cosmetics $103 billion per month in 1990.

Not all plastic surgery is a result of vanity; often it is a result of poor lifestyle choices and diet.  As a society, we have fallen under the impression that natural is not good enough.  Plants the way they are in the wild are not good enough so we alter them genetically to be able to withstand climate changes, pesticides, and be able to travel long distances without spoiling.  Our animals are not good enough so we breed them to coincide more with our convenience rather than our nutrition; we prescribe to the idea that more is better so we fatten up our animals so that we can have giant chicken breasts and steaks -- even if that means raising disease ridden animals who are raised in confinement and unable to walk.  Our bodies are not good enough so we add and subtract things, surgically, to fit an unnatural idea of beauty.  From how we eat, to how we view ourselves, unnatural has become common place while natural is a rarity.  We genetically modify our bodies the way we genetically modify our food.  In her journey, Barbara Kingsolver explores the idea that natural is good and natural is what works best.  Through her year long journey of consuming only natural, local foods, Barbara and her family prove that natural is not only better, but it's doable.
"Woe is us, we over fed, undernourished U.S. citizens" (54).

I hope that was educational.  My interest in environmental issues and animal welfare issues can all be traced back to my eating habits and my concern for my health.  The way we eat and what we eat directly impacts the environment and the lives of others.

Think about it.  Oh, and sign the petition at the bottom of my blog.