GM Foods and World Hunger, Essay Example

Having access to nutritious and safe foods are crucial for the enhancement of human health across the world. Approximately one-third of the population in the Third World is currently considered both food and nutrition insecure as a result of their  unfortunate geopolitical conditions. Both nutritional concerns and biological necessities underlie the dire necessity yield food and nutrient security, which provides the motivation for scientists, nutritionists, and human rights proponents to achieve more equitable food distribution among vulnerable and at-risk populations, especially in Third World Countries (Schlosser 321). Genetically modified food, also referred to as GMOs, has recently emerged as a daily component in the United States food industry. Indeed, the U.S. has emerged as the largest producer of crops and food that contain genetically modified ingredients. Various advertisements market the positive aspects and benefits of biotechnology for solving various world crises that hamper Third World populations. Genetically modified foods, which are also known as biotech or genetically-engineered foods that have been engineered in a scientific laboratory setting to create desirable traits that augment resistance to herbicides in crops and amplify the nutritional content therein. Scientists and nutritionists approximate that over sixty percent of the processed foods sold in grocery stores throughout the United States have genetically-modified ingredients that consumers are not aware of. This oversight exists because of the lack of legal and political enforcement that would make companies label their foods if they contain any genetically-modified ingredients (Miller 291). The most common types of GMOs include corn, soybeans, cotton, and grape seed oil. Questions regarding the safety of ingesting foods with genetically-modified ingredients have spawned studies regarding the precise impact and nature of genetically modified foods on human health (Lusk and Rozan 271). While consuming genetically-engineered foods has various risks and hazards associated with it, the United States government has publically stated that genetically-engineered crops and foods consumed by animals are one hundred percent safe. Furthermore, GMOs help people’s immune system build up resistance to certain debilitating diseases while also reducing poverty levels in nations torn asunder by starvation and famine. Therefore, GMOs and genetically-modified ingredients present the next evolutionary step because they have the potential to alleviate the various ills spawned by overpopulation across the globe.