With technological advancement a new field, namely bioengineering, emerged in industry, changing global food market significantly. While some people claim that genetically modified (GM) food will have a wide range of positive implications on human lives, others assert that the research on its repercussions on humans’ overall health is not finished; therefore, people’s lives can be endangered. This essay will examine both arguments before presenting my subjective stance.
The proponents of GM food believe that it will succeed in mitigating global hunger by offering individuals nutritious, well-balanced, and affordable food with a long shelf-life. GM food has already established food security worldwide, saturating market shelves and providing people with a huge range of food, proving its feasibility and effectiveness. Moreover, while traditional agriculture methods were always vulnerable to natural disasters and susceptible to pests, GM food has a strong resistance to all kinds of pests and can grow even during drought, ensuring humanity with a continuous stream of fresh and nutritious food. Thus, it is understandable why some people support this point of view.
The opponents believe that overreliance on GM food will lead to serious and counter-productive consequences. Scientists and bioengineers are continuing to research the effects of GM food on the human body, but the research is not finished; hence, it is not certain whether it is safe for daily consumption or not. Moreover, were GM crops to be yielded excessively, pests would eventually adapt to them and damage crops. The biological evolution of pests would be unbearable for humanity and necessitate long years of investigation in order to find proactive measures.
In my opinion, both arguments hold merit. A balanced approach would be to acknowledge that the future of humanity will most probably be tightly bonded with GM food but only after meticulous research and validation of its safety. Furthermore, not only is GM food affordable and long-lasting, but it is also suitable for people with allergies offering them an opportunity to diversify their strict diets. If the safety of GM food is approved, humankind will approach solution of global hunger and establish food as a fundamental human right.
In conclusion, while the safety of GM food is still not ascertained, its positive effects on global food supply are indispensable. In addition, after careful examination, GM food will inevitably become a main food source on Earth.