Genetically Modified Organisms, or GMO’s, are plants that have been modified to make them more productive and resistant to certain problems. The process of creating these organisms can best be explained using a chain model. If there is a weak link in a chain, you either mend it or replace it with a stronger one. If there is a gene in the DNA of a wheat plant that makes it susceptible to a certain fungus, scientists have now developed a way to remove that gene and replace it.
Genetically modifying plants is the new, high speed way of getting rid of undesirable traits in crops. The old method, selective breeding, used to take years to remove a trait. With the help of genetic modification, we can now do the same thing in a much shorter amount of time.
What that means is, your meat, eggs and milk are all non-GMO. There is currently not an FDA-approved way to make animals or related products genetically modified. This also means most of your produce is not genetically modified. There are only ten crops in the United States that are genetically modified to date. They are: corn, soybeans, cotton, alfalfa, sugar beets, canola, squash/zucchini, papaya, potatoes and apples. Most of those are used for livestock feed and production of bi-products.
There is no overwhelming evidence that genetically modified organisms are bad for you or even remotely close to harming your health. In fact, analysts predict that when the world population hits nine billion in 2050, GMO crops will save us from mass starvation since they are so productive. Don’t let labeling trends in the grocery store scare you. GMOs are perfectly healthy.