Specific Goal: I would like to persuade my audience to eat more organic foods instead of eating genetically modified food, because it is not only contains genetically modified ingredients but also could be one of the major causes of developing cancer.
Introduction:
- How many of you know what genetically modified foods are? How many of you have eaten GM foods or even know whether you’ve eaten any or not?
- I want to explain to you just what GM foods are, why I wouldn’t eat them and why I don’t believe anyone else should either.
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Thesis Statement: Whilst there is no current evidence that suggests that GM foods are likely to be generally harmful to health, their safety, potential risks and ethical concerns are still being debated, so that we do not know for sure whether or not they are (e.g.) a cancer risk.
Body:
- Without getting too technical, GM foods are natural food crops modified using biotechnology, to make them more resistant to pests and diseases, to improve the flavor and/or the energy value or to extend the shelf life of the food products.
- Traditionally, improved plants can be produced using “natural” methods such as cross-pollination, practices that have existed probably for hundreds of years, but the end results can take years and years until a new and better variety is produced.
- Using biotechnology to perform what’s known as “genetic engineering” is much faster, and can add genes from an unrelated plant type, but does anyone fully understand the possible side effects? The answer to that is a definite “No.”
- Were you aware that GM foods are already widely-produced and used in the U.S.?
- The following percentages of basic food crops grown in the U.S. are GM varieties: Corn 85, Soybeans 91, Cotton (seed oil used in food) 88, sugar beet 95.
- As a consequence, “genetically engineered ingredients” are contained in almost three quarters of processed food in our supermarkets, yet “Congress has yet to pass a single law intended to manage them responsibly.” Considering safety concerns expressed by scientists, that is quite amazing!
- Risks already identified include the possibility of allergens being unwittingly transferred from a source plant to a GM food. Example: Brazil nut genes introduced into GM soybeans caused reactions in people with nut allergies.
- Another example was the real risk of resistance to antibiotics being introduced to humans through the biotechnological processing.
- Yet another risk was the threat of herbicide-resistant weeds developing by cross-breeding with GM crops. Long term research and testing could have prevented that; but there are now resistant weeds that require special treatment.
- There are other hazards, but the most worrying is the lack of research into potential health risks. By the time adequate research is undertaken, it could well be too late. As Lendman (2008) stated, “Once GM seeds are introduced to an area, the genie is out of the bottle for keeps.” In other words, any damage done by the introduction of GM crops may be found to be irreversible.
- Dr Stanley Ewen, a consultant in a Scottish hospital claimed that a particular virus derived from cauliflowers could produce an increased risk of consumers contracting colon and/or stomach cancer.
- Instead of risking health by consuming laboratory-developed foodstuffs, go back to eating (and growing) organic foods, for the sake of your and your family’s future health. Organic food not only tastes better than commercial foods, but it is also better for us and our children, as well as wildlife and the environment as a whole.
Conclusion: Growing and consuming GM foods without ensuring that risks and possible side-effects have been properly investigated and eliminated is foolhardy and dangerous. We could be storing up trouble for the future in massive increases in cancer cases. It is much, much better if we go back to growing and eating organic foods – the safe option.
Sources:
“Advantages of Organic Food.” (n.d.). Organic Food for Everyone. Retrieved from http://www.organic-food-for-everyone.com/advantages-of-organic-food.html
Edwards, R. (2002). “Eating GM Food Could Give You Cancer Says Scientist.” Sunday Herald. Retrieved from http://rense.com/general32/Eating.htm
“Genetically Engineered Crops” (n.d.). The Center For Food Safety. Retrieved from http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/campaign/genetically-engineered-food/crops/
“Genetically modified foods.” (2011). Better Health Channel. Retrieved from http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/Genetically_modified_foods
Lendman, S. (2008). “Health Hazards of Genetically Engineered Foods.” Retrieved from http://rense.com/general80/haz.htm
