Should there be regulations requiring genetically engineered foods to be labeled?
Consumers have the right to know what they are eating and therefore, genetically engineered foods should be labeled. Consumers want to know that their foods don’t have toxins or other chemicals in them.
Genetically engineered foods should be labeled for several reasons. One particular reason is that consumers do not want to be eating foods that could give them a mild or severe allergic reaction. If genetically engineered foods are not labeled, people could die because they wouldn’t know what was in their food. In a scientist’s point of view, I believe that the genetically modified foods have plenty of risks and people need to be aware of these risks. By labeling genetically engineered foods, consumers can become aware of the risks that these genetically engineered foods contain. The environmentalist in the group said that the genetically engineered foods need to be labeled because the foods are a potential threat to the environment. He also stated that crops could be destroyed or nature could become unbalanced so we need to protect our environment by labeling harmful genetically modified foods. The consumer advocate felt very strongly on the labeling of these genetically engineered foods. She said that the consumer has the right to know and choose what types of food they eat. The labels also provide information and ingredients to the consumer. Consumers need to know if these foods will have ingredients in them that the consumer may be allergic to. The safety of these products is not fully known so the consumer should have the choice on whether or not they want to eat the genetically modified foods. She also stated that some people may have specific a intolerance or allergies to foods so whether or not the product is genetically modified should also be visible. The consumer advocate wanted to address the fact that some people have religious beliefs that forbid them to eat certain foods so if the genetically engineered foods aren’t labeled, these people may accidentally eat something that is against their beliefs. Also, vegetarians may eat genetically engineered foods that contain a gene from meat; hence vegetarians have a right to know whether their “genetically modified vegetables” contain meat. The consumer advocate was very concerned with the health of consumers and wanted to make it very clear that all genetically engineered foods should be labeled to prevent anyone from eating foods that could potentially kill them. On the other hand, the legislature was concerned with the money that it would take to label each individual product. The legislature was much divided on whether or not to pass the bill that would require the labeling of genetically modified foods. He did finally decided to pass it only because he knew that the health of many lives was at stake and he knew that in the end, passing the bill would all be worth it. Also, he wanted to make sure consumers knew that they were consuming genetically engineered foods so by passing the bill, he was ensuring the health of others. The environmentalist, scientist, consumer advocate, and legislature each came to the agreement that people use food labeling to express a wide variety of religious, ethical, and environmental preferences. If foods weren’t labeled, the health of a person could be put a very high danger.
In conclusion, all genetically engineered foods should be labeled so that consumers are aware of the products in their foods.
Should there be government regulations to protect the environment from genetically engineered crops?
The environment needs to be protected and there should definitely be regulations to protect. Genetically engineered crops can destroy the balance of nature so we need to do everything we can to prevent that from happening.
Genetically engineered crops can destroy the environment so I believe that the government should be making regulations to protect the environment. As the scientist I found that genetically engineering crops to be more resistant to pesticides allows farmers to use more pesticides with less fear of crop damage, which in turn will lead to greater pollution of our soil and groundwater. Also, animals genetically engineered to be larger, to carry specific diseases for research, or to serve as pharmacological factories are frequently sickly, crippled, or otherwise abnormal. Thus, eating genetically engineered animals or animal products could lead to unforeseen risks for human health. The environmentalist felt the government should be doing everything in its power to protect the environment. The environmentalist’s job is to protect the environment so he said that with genetically engineered foods you can create offspring with no biodiversity making the plants susceptible to extinction. Also, another risk that he stated was that you may alter a plant which could result in creating a super weed. The consumer advocate stated that genetically engineered foods need to be reviewed for possible risk before being released. Before any genetically engineered crop is turned into food, the FDA should have to formally approve that the crop is safe for human and animal consumption. She also believes that the government should take control over items that can be harmful, maybe even deadly to people. She stressed that people have the right to know what they are consuming. The consumer advocate made an interesting comparison between guns and genetically engineered foods. She said that guns, like genetically engineered foods, are harmful to people and the government made laws about the guns so why not make laws about the foods? The point is that the role of the government is to protect its people and by making laws against genetically engineered foods, the government is doing its job. The legislature was worried about losing money because if people find out these foods aren’t good for the environment, they may not eat the foods as much. The GE companies hold 2.5 million American jobs in each 50 states so if people don’t eat the genetically engineered foods as much then the employees of these GE companies may not make as much money anymore. The legislature did finally come to his senses and he realized that some of these genetically engineered foods are destroying crops so he agreed with the group that actions need to be taken by the government to protect the environment.
The environmentalist, scientist, consumer advocate, and legislature all came to the conclusion that the government needs to have regulations to protect our environment because if steps are not taken, we may no longer have an environment to protect.
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