As stated in the nutrition article, the issue is not that we don't have enough food to feed everyone, but that there is a serious lack of nutrients in the food, and it's resulting in serious health problems. Therefore I do believe that the potential benefits of agricultural biotechnology outweighs the possible risks. We are at a point where what we decide next has the potential to affect almost everyone in the world, and not giving people the chance to consume much needed nutrients is just not a viable option. There are many unknowns, but that is always the case when new technology is introduced in the world.
Of course, the biggest amount of risk taken is by the farmers making this food. There are a lot of variables including economics, politics, and ethics that go in to agricultural biotechnology and I think some degree of protection must be given to the farmers so that they are not discouraged from taking the necessary steps. There are so many countries that can benefit from agricultural biotechnology, and I believe at this point, our focus should be on getting these people the nutrients they need, and dealing with any potential complications as they arise.
I absolutely agree with Elena, the world population has become so large that we are at a point where we absolutely need agricultural biotechnology to even feed the people. I also think it is true that we now need to focus on how to get the right nutrients in our food in an affordable way. Of course, we will have to deal with the negative consequences of agricultural biotechnology. The fact that the pros outweigh the cons, does not mean that we can ignore our responsibility to control the impact of agricultural biotechnology to the environment and farmers around the world.
I agree with each of you. In my opinion the risks should be bore by the companies and governments who allow GMOs within their country to be sold to the public. It should never be the farmer who is not as lucrative as a major company. The companies and government need to back all farmers putting them on an equal playing field and either 100 percent implement GMOs or not. It is becoming a huge problem that the developing countries are lacking food that is nutrient dense. This problem is only going to become increasingly exponential and eventually out of control. It is only through our biotechnology breakthroughs with genetically modifying food that we have reached this carry capacity. The risk of not improving overall health worldwide through nutrition is way greater and has a much higher potential to harm then the risks that come along with GMOs, even unstudied ones. If you do not have the nutrients to live then you never get the chance to take the risks of the GMOs harming your body. The population, farmers, and companies creating the GMOs can all equally benefit in the end if more research, planning and acceptance of GMOs is initiated worldwide.
I agree that everyone needs to have access and accessibility to nutritious and culturally appropriate food. Of course, there are a lot of unknowns related to GMOs, but there is also a lot of research on GMOs. The main problems that we see with GMOs are making sure that the food is reaching the intended population, local farmers are able and willing to grow it, it is culturally relevant food, and making sure that the higher SES population is not eating too much of the GMO nutrients. However, if GMOs are integrated in a culturally competent manner with evidence-based research on planning, implementation, and continual evaluation of the GMOs impact on the community then as health professionals we need to promote GMOs. We should not promote GMOs if we are going to drop them off to farmers and then back out, we need to make sure that the farmers and community are supported.
We also need to keep in mind that yes, on a whole, the world does produce enough food for every person eat. But that does not mean that every person has access to food, nutritious or not.
I agree, we need to take risks with science in order to have breakthroughs. Some of the greatest scientific discoveries happened by accident. There could be negative consequences on biotechnology but the research just isn't their yet. If we withhold this technology and wait for all of the research to say that it is safe to use thousands will die simply because they do not have the nutrition in their current diets. The opposite could also be true that biotechnology could harm all those eating from it. However, it is better to implement a plan and attempt to save as many people as possible than to wait and see and do nothing in the meantime.