Reflection:
1. my instructor said I need to be more persuasive and less informative
2. I went with field research, personal experiences, and informative sites. I had a hard time intertwining them.
3. I was able to obtain 7.5 out of the 8-10 pages. I got stuck with nothing left to write about.
Gmo's are harmful to humans
Got gmo's inside you? Chances are you do. Gmo's (genetically modified organisms) currently being added to foods are unnatural and linked to health risk. Including killing embryos and causing cancer. Some countries have gone as far as banning the use of these products. The USDA labeling system is misleading. They are labeling products natural with stipulations that are not included on the label. The producers/manufactures of gmo products, the farmers that buy them, and the USDA believe it is the choice of the farmer to grow how they want, and the consumer to buy what they choose. How do consumers make an informed choice if foods are not labeled properly? How do we put an end to gmo's?
The gmo process has been around for a long time. Gmo's were first reported in the 1700's. They were mostly used to create new types of crops, and change the taste and color of crops. I bet you thought carrots were orange? Well, actually their original color was purple (Philipp 2014). During that time there wasn't a big fuss over gmo's. Even with different colored carrots, there were no reports of harmful chemicals being used. Well that's not the case anymore. Times have changed and now we have all kinds of chemicals being added to our foods. Many of them are known to be harmful.
Monsanto one of the large gmo producers, sells pesticide enriched seeds to farmers. Monsanto believes there is no "good or bad way to grow food". Monsanto said farmers should have the choice of how they want to grow crops (Coexistence of GMO and Organic Crops).
Most definitely people should have choices. However, I would question a company that thinks there is not good or bad way to grow food. Surely that can't be true. I would not grow a vegetable garden in my backyard if I knew I accidently spilled my car oil on it just a couple of days prior. One could infer Monsanto's was using a marketing method. Since Monsanto would be ok with farmers choosing to go organic rather than buy Monsanto's product. They are have passed the blame from them to the farmers making it their choice. I know there are good healthy ways to grow food. I'm sure it doesn't include modified crops.
One of the biggest controversial chemicals being added to food is Glyphosate. This is a chemical used in gmo food products that Monsanto sells to farmers. Glyphosate is also found in weed killer products and has been known to cause cancer and even kill embryos. I investigated this myself. I went to the store to check the ingredients of the weed killer Roundup. I found there was not an ingredients label on the container. Instead I had to go to the website. There I did find the Glyphosate ingredient I also found out who makes Roundup. I'm sure you can guess by now it's Monsanto. So why would there not be an ingredient label? I think for those have heard about this chemical and how it causes cancer would not buy Roundup if they saw Glyphosate listed.
I knew a beautiful eight year old girl who recently passed from cancer last year. Her mother, a health conscience person who buys natural foods often, believes these chemicals added to our foods may have contributed. She also believes that if these chemicals were not added to foods or were labeled properly she would have been a wiser consumer. Exactly, that brings me back to my first question. How do consumers make an informed choice if foods are not labeled properly or don't have labels at all. Or even worse, when products are labeled but companies are not required to disclose all ingredients on the label if the ingredient added is minimal, just under the FDA threshold.
The USDA allows foods to be labeled "natural foods" if the food does not use artificial flavors. However, products like pesticide enriched seeds used in farming, can still be labeled "natural." In other words a product can be labeled natural, but the ingredients used to grow the crops have no restrictions (usda 2012). Other organization taking advantage of the faulty labeling system is the chicken industry. I see the label "no hormones added" on chicken at the grocery stores. But per the USDA hormones are not allowed to be used in chicken (usda.2012). So why add an unnecessary label? I think by adding an unnecessary label I'm being diverted from other ingredients. I have been guilty of falling for selective labeling.
Every time I go to an event or the state fair there's a booth explaining how to rid the toxins out of my body. Why wouldn't there be? I mean if Monsanto can make a chemically induced product. Then why wouldn't someone else take advantage of that and create a detoxifying product to counter act. So I think the people in the booths at the state fair are on to something. I very much agree that there are toxins in my body. As I read through the pamphlets I realize how closely they describe me. Most of the symptoms listed in these pamphlet's I suffer from, including chronic fatigue.
Chronic fatigue has also been linked to genetically modified foods (Edison, MD.2013). While conducting my research for this project, I decided to be a part of it. But instead of adding yet another chemical from other company into my body, I think I would be better off eliminating the first one. So decide to eat non-gmo foods for one week.
I began shopping for my groceries at whole foods store. To my surprise, whole foods stores are not "all natural" either. I still had to be careful and read the ingredients (assuming they're all listed). I found it hard to find foods completely free of gmo's. So I shopped organic. I found cooking was very different I had to cook slower because there were no preservatives so my food was dry. Then I would quickly revert back to something simple and processed. However, once I got the hang of it, I noticed the same meals I used to make like spaghetti had more flavor and a less salty taste. After two days I noticed a difference. I was more alert, not as tired. I had a lot of energy. I even got compliments of my complexion. There were some down falls though. I have intense withdraw feelings from removing these processed foods. I had headaches that I don't normally have. The last time I recall having these headaches was when I gave up soda. I would defiantly do this again. But probably not cold turkey. I would want to wean myself off of the addicting chemicals in my current diet.
One evening while I was cooking my organic meal, I was having a conversation with my former spouse. I was explaining how I thought gmo were unnatural and that I was trying to be free from processed foods, and that my new diet was causing me headaches. He did not agree with me. Of course he wouldn't agree this is my former spouse I was speaking to. (That's the only crack on him I promise). However he made a few good points, you see he is quite a few years older than I, (that's not a crack at him he really is) he said he and his siblings ate whatever they wanted as children. They did not worry about what was in their food, and he doesn't understand what all the fuss is about. I countered that, and informed him, while that may be true the chemicals added now were not being added when he was a child. And that cancer has risen over the last 20 years. (Hume,Tim. Christensen,Jen 2014). Then he laughed at my expense and said if gmo- free is so good from me then why am I having headaches. I had to explain that my body has become accustom to these chemicals and removing them cold turkey would be like him quitting smoking cold turkey. He had no following rebuttals. So with Cancer on the rise and additional toxin related systems how do we stop this madness?
Well, The State of California has taken action. They notified Pepsi Co. that if they didn't change the way they made their caramel color (another cancer causing gmo chemical being added) in their products they were going to make Pepsi slap a "may cause cancer" label on their products. So Pepsi did change the way they made their product. That's great right? No. Pepsi only lessoned the amount used to the legal limit for the state of California not the rest of us.
It's scary to see gmo added on labels, or may cause cancer on the products we are purchasing. Which is probably why Pepsi was so quick to change rather than slapping that verbiage on their product. I was at Wal-Mart last week looking to buy a plastic food storage container. I found two that looked the same but one was less expensive. So I look it over trying to figure out why. And then I found it in small print. Made in California "may cause cancer." So immediately I put that container down and bought the other one. You go California, Thank you.
California also tried banning gmo's completely but was not successful. In fact Pepsi Co. is not the only ones changing products for selective locations. Nestle, Kraft, and Hershey do not sell gmo products to Europe. But these same three companies paid millions to stop California from passing a ban to eliminate gmo being sold in California. (Edison, M.D. 2013). Is Nestle, Kraft, and Hershey, spending millions to stop the ban just to avoid losing sales in California? That money could be invested in new ways to make their products without gmo's. California did not let that stop them. California was determined to get the message out. When I visited the San Francisco area a few weeks ago, there were signs posted in the windows of fast foods locations and some convenient stores indicating that products used and sold may contain chemicals known to cause cancer.
I understand from a marketing standpoint that slapping a label on something that may cause cancer can really hurt sales (just like I decided not to buy that plastic food container) and would be extremely costly. On the other had how any company continue to make a product knowing that can harm people and spend millions defending it? I would not want to be the person or company responsible for causing the cancer. I think if something I was selling was found to be harmful I would do my best to remove it.
Pepsi, Coke, Dr. Pepper, and the American Beverage company have got together. They made a commercial and a website geared towards teens. They are encouraging a balance diet and exercise. They even have a calorie counter on the website. I applaud them for this. They are really doing a good thing trying to gets kids outdoors and active. But these commercials are also promoting themselves. My two teens say they see this commercial and think "wow these companies are looking out for me." And so they want to drink more of their products. But we already know that Pepsi has not changed how they make their product for Arizona. Although California did not purse the other cola companies that are not lacking in the same caramel color they just came under the legal limits.
What do we do when foods are labeled "all natural" are not always "all natural." And so many people believe gmo is harmful that entire counties have required that all gmo's be labeled. And some counties have even gone as far as completing banning the sale and production of gmo's.
We make people aware. Awareness is key. Let people know you can't judge a package by its labeling. Advised people of the harmful effects of gmo products. Let the California's proposition be an example for all states to create a proposition to ban gmo's. Enforce action and pass a bill to have every cancerous item be individually labeled. We can require every fast food, convenient store, or any store the sell gmo products to post notices in their front windows. My hope is that less people will be buying gmo products. And the gmo companies including Monsanto will be forced to change.
Hello Student25,
I am not really familiar with MLA format, but since your paper is a bit on the scientific side, you may need to be using APA format. If this is what you should be using (check your rubric) you should review the abbreviation rules. First, provide the full name and then abbreviate in parentheses, as in genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Regarding the MLA or APA rules, check with rules about citing to ensure you don't get in trouble for misquoting or inadvertently plagiarizing.
Also, check for punctuation, I think you meant to use a comma but used a period instead---
"and linked to health risk. Including killing embryos and causing cancer." "Monsanto one of the large gmo producers" Did you mean Monsanto, one of the largest...?
I do think your essay I leaning in the persuasive category since you are using emotive language.
Keep reading and re-reading your work. Take breaks from it and go back with a clear head. Look for ways to make your essay more concise and detailed.
Best of luck!
