Textbook Agrees to Update Controversial Message on GMO Foods

https://www.yahoo.com/parenting/textbook-agrees-to-update-controversial-message-on-107918766597.html

The calls were no doubt inspired by the coverage of the textbook controversy in alternative publications including AltHealthWorks, which first published a screen shot of the page in question. The page notes that genetically modified crops “can produce more food,” “have more nutrients,” “fight disease and insects,” and “need fewer chemical pesticides.”

No downsides of GMOs are mentioned, despite frequent reports that genetically modifying crops — which means the injecting of species with DNA from other plants and animals in order to alter their qualities and characteristics —may have troubling long-term health and environmental effects that are not yet known. According to some sources, the use of GMO crops (such as Monsanto’s Roundup Ready corn and soybeans, designed to withstand high doses of weed killer) is already causing fallout — from the wiping out of monarch butterflies to the appearance of pesticides in pregnant women’s bloodstreams. The U.S. does not currently require genetically modified foods to be labeled, though current battles at state levels are ongoing — typically lost because of multimillion dollar ad campaigns by the food industry. At least 26 countries, including Switzerland, Australia, India, and France, have total or partial bans on GMOs.