What are the benefits and detractors from genetically modified vegetables?

Question

I want to find out the reason for the protest against modified vegetables.
I want to find out where they are, and if they have helped out developing countries.

Answer 1

Benefits:
Reduced use of pesticides in insect resistant vegetables
Reduced use of water in drought tolerant vegetables
Greater nutrients from nutrient enriched vegetables
Vegetables containing modified oils mean less demand on fish stocks
Some plants can be used to produce cheap edible vaccines


Its hard to find any legitimate reasons against GM vegetables. Most of the opposition is based on hysteria, ignorance or nature worship. GM vegetables are already helping developing nations. Much more could be done to help developing nations if the looneys who oppose GM would see reason. Golden rice is a prime example of a good idea that is being opposed by the ignorant. Golden rice was bred with increased beta-carotene (the same stuff that makes carrots orange). Millions of people don't get enough beta-carotene in their diet and suffer vitamin A deficiency which can lead to blindness or death, particularly in children. Golden rice is 100% safe yet the fruitcake fraternity opposes its use, even though millions of children could be saved from blindness or death if people were allowed to eat it in developing countries. At the moment these people rely on hand outs of vitamin supplements from NGOs but often the supplements don't reach those who need them most. If poor farmers could grow there own golden rice then they wouldn't be dependent on handouts from the west. It is a great evil that anti-GMO campaigners are allowing children to die because of their own selfish and paranoid beliefs. They have no scientific grounds to oppose GM yet they do out of a paranoid fear of the unknown, even though there is copious amounts of evidence which proves GM crops are safe.

Answer 2

The proposed benefits were reduced chemical costs for insecticides by having the plant make its own in vivo and reduced weed management costs by making them resistant to herbicide so the crop could be sprayed thus eliminating hand picking or hoeing. Thus Roundup ready potatoes etc.
The problem is the ingestion of the produced compounds. Although Starlink corn was approved as animal food there is no way in nature to confine the pollen so in the US there is no corn that can be certified Starlink free. Thus corn humans consume is Starlink --approved or not. Then we see trials outside the US questioning the trials conducted here. They claim animals on Starlink corn dont do as well as the controls. Did Monsanto make an error? What do you think?
I think it interesting that we are told to wash chemical residue off our vegetables - herbicides and pesticides - yet when the pesticide is systemic and made by the altered DNA of the plant it is just fine.
The Monarch butterfly will probably be extinct as a result of this.

I think journeytoforever.org has some info about sustainable agriculture and exposes much of the industry hype as just that. The people who make money off this is not the farmers or the public. It is Monsanto and friends. Ever notice how many former Monsanto execs have government advisory posts?

Answer 3

I would suppose the ones that are genetically modified would be more resistant to poor environmental conditions; however, a major detractor is that we just don't know how these modified veggies will effect the overall ecosystem over a prolonged period of time. There are several companies that have genetically engineered corn and other vegetables which are currently being grown in our country and abroad.