By Jacob Caporaletti
The environmental movement has left an undeniable impact on our world
and shows no signs of slowing down. With growing political clout that
reaches as far up as the White House, environmentalism has become a powerful
force, and in the past decades it has brought many positive changes. It has
made people more aware of how they impact the planet and how their actions
will shape the future for the next generation.
Environmentalism has also helped push technology to become more
efficient and clean. However, there is one area where the environmental
movement has faltered and has led to many deaths all over the world. That
area is food.

The past 100 years have been special for our civilization. Technology
and invention have given mankind an abundance of food the likes of which
we've never enjoyed before. Most of the industrialized world doesn't have to
worry about famine and malnutrition. Getting food is as easy as a trip to
the local grocery store. We owe this abundance to many advances, but the two
that have contributed most are genetically modified crops and the use of
petrochemical fertilizers and pesticides. Yet, even as these advances give
us so much food, they are demonized by segments of the environmental
movement.

Tampering with genetics in food is nothing new. Human beings have been
breeding crops and animals for millennia. The difference today is that with
biotechnology it is possible, in theory, to cross all natural barriers and
put genes in organisms that wouldn't otherwise be viable. This advancement
allows scientists to make any number of genetic modifications, and this is
what has got environmentalists up in arms.

Genetically modified crops have gained a reputation as being unnatural
and unsafe despite exhaustive testing and refinement.

Some go so far as to call them "Frankenfoods" and claim they're
harmful products of big corporations who just pass these products off to the
public to make a quick buck.

This, of course, is a gross exaggeration. These products are
rigorously tested by the FDA, EPA and USDA and have a solid success rate.

It is estimated that nearly 70 percent of the food we consume has some
element of genetically modified food in it, so there's a good chance we've
all eaten some. It hasn't killed us yet, but the environmentalists aren't
convinced. In an effort to get away from the so-called evils of genetically
modified food, many environmentalists encourage organic gardening methods.

Now it is possible to go to places like Whole Foods to get all-natural
foods, untouched by the hands of scientists and corporations. These foods
cost more, but it's worth it to some environmentalists, and they believe
organic gardening may one day overthrow the evils of genetically modified
foods and return to the natural methods of the planet. They neglect to think
about, however, how harmful this would be to humanity.

It is estimated that if every farm on the planet were to abandon
genetically modified crops and petrochemical fertilizers, there would only
be enough food to feed two-thirds of the world population. That means over
two billion people would have absolutely nothing to eat. And that's not
taking into account the annual farm crop that is lost to natural disasters.
You don't hear too many environmentalists addressing this problem. The harsh
reality is our civilization needs these products to feed our population.
Unless these environmentalists can find two billion people willing to starve
themselves, then they should think twice about advocating something that
would lead to mass malnutrition.

This doesn't mean that there aren't risks in using genetically
modified foods.

The jury is still out on the long-term effects of these crops. Some
have pointed to a growth in food-born allergies, but so far there is no
direct evidence that links this to the use of genetically modified foods.
Others say if these crops get out into the wild they could have adverse
effects on the ecosystem. However, many of these crops are sterilized ahead
of time and only a handful of cases have done any damage in the wild.

That could change in the future, but that's exactly why we need to
push this technology further instead of reverting to old ways that will only
leave millions dying from hunger.

Environmentalists have pushed for efficiency in all areas except
agriculture.

They fail to realize the limits of so-called "eco-friendly" food
production and their influence could lead to the deaths of millions.

One of the leading Nobel Prize winning agricultural scientists of our
time and father of the Green Revolution, Norman Borlaug, once said, "We
cannot make a peaceful world on empty stomachs and human misery." As our
population grows, we must strive to improve our methods and not go back to
earlier times when famine was a constant worry.


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