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GMO Report

Businesses prefer GMOs for rapidly producing high-quality crops, while consumers also want high-quality crops but differ in prioritizing safety. This difference regarding safety makes GMOs controversial. Discussions on GMO safety include the reliability of production processes and labeling. While some studies find no long-term health harm, others report tumors in rats, requiring longer-term studies. Approval processes rely solely on producer documentation, raising doubts. Hence, some argue for full labeling to inform consumers, as willingness to pay drops with GMO labels. For society, labeling's benefits must be weighed against businesses' rights and the social impacts on environment, food issues, and biodiversity from reduced diversity due to crop homogenization. Sol

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23 views

GMO Report

Businesses prefer GMOs for rapidly producing high-quality crops, while consumers also want high-quality crops but differ in prioritizing safety. This difference regarding safety makes GMOs controversial. Discussions on GMO safety include the reliability of production processes and labeling. While some studies find no long-term health harm, others report tumors in rats, requiring longer-term studies. Approval processes rely solely on producer documentation, raising doubts. Hence, some argue for full labeling to inform consumers, as willingness to pay drops with GMO labels. For society, labeling's benefits must be weighed against businesses' rights and the social impacts on environment, food issues, and biodiversity from reduced diversity due to crop homogenization. Sol

Uploaded by

gwanagbu9
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Title: GMO from the Perspectives of Businesses, Consumers, and Society

GMO refers to crops that have been genetically modified to exhibit desired traits, such as resistance to pests or
improved taste, through gene editing or recombination. The reasons for continuing to produce GMOs can be
examined from the perspectives of businesses, consumers, and society. Businesses may prefer GMOs for the
rapid production of high-quality crops. Consumers, while also desiring high-quality crops, differ in that they
consider safety. Primarily, these differences between businesses and consumers are why GMOs have become a
controversial topic.

Discussions on the safety of GMOs include the reliability of the GMO production process and the introduction
of GMO labeling. The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) in the United States argued in 2016, based on
approximately 20 years of data, that there is no evidence that GMOs cause long-term harm to human health.
However, there have been reports of tumors in rats used in experiments, suggesting that understanding the exact
impact on humans may require studies over several generations. The process of approving GMO production in
the US is based solely on documentation provided by the producers, raising doubts about the trustworthiness of
decision-makers, especially when former agricultural secretaries have worked for GMO companies. Hence,
there is a position that information about GMOs should be provided to consumers, advocating for a full labeling
system. Experimental results have shown a significant drop in consumer willingness to pay when products are
labeled as GMO.

Another consideration is what is desirable for society. Even if it does not protect companies that produce or use
GMOs, is there a basis for arguing that the introduction of a labeling system is more beneficial for society? The
conflict between the right of consumers to know and the rights of businesses is an issue, but more importantly,
how GMO production should be handled from the perspective of society and the state needs to be considered,
with an emphasis on evaluating the social impact of GMOs on the environment and food issues.

One argument for the societal benefits of GMOs is the resolution of food issues. However, there are two points
to consider. First, from an environmental impact perspective, although GMOs may appear to increase food
production, they could have long-term detrimental effects on the ecosystem, primarily due to reduced
biodiversity as a result of crop homogenization. The importance of biodiversity is illustrated by the Cavendish
banana variety, which, due to genetic uniformity, faced extinction from Panama disease. Reduced biodiversity
makes it difficult to cope with such unexpected events. Furthermore, unintended gene transfer from GMO
exports can disrupt ecosystems and has been cited as a cause for the decline in bee populations. Considering that
GMOs do not significantly reduce pesticide use or transportation costs, the effect on increasing food supply
seems minimal. Secondly, solving food issues is not just about increasing food production; the production of
GMO foods can lead to market monopolization by certain countries or companies using this technology, and
policies may be influenced more by national interests than by solving global food issues. It is essential to
consider the association of GMO production with national technological capabilities and to assess the economic
impact of GMO-related policies.

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