Be it resolved that Genetically Modified (GM) agriculture is beneficial to society.*

"Now, this statement was clearly a poorly researched one. What my opponent must understand is that grafting IS A FORM of genetic modification. During the process of grafting, plants transplant genes, and the transplantation of genes is genetic modification. [1] Futhermore, grafting does not even come close to the capablilties of today's genetic modification methods" Not true. My opponent defined genetically modified agriculture as "any plant with a significant amount of altered DNA through the process of genetic engineering. " Grafting is not GM, because it is not genetically engineered, it is grafted. "This is a subjective statement. You have to realize that 45% of US corn, and 85% of US soybeans are already grown with genetic modifications. [2] If we did not already have a solid understanding of the impacts that GM foods present, surely it would be outrageous for the US government to premit(? ) such a thing" That is precisely my point. We don't have a solid understanding of the impacts of GM food, and I do think it is outrageous. You're basically saying that GM food is healthy because it's popular. "]This would mean that someone like me has been consuming GM foods all my life" No it doesn't. There's still 55% of US corn, and 15% of US soybeans that aren't genetically modified. " If fourteen years worth of exposure to GM food does not cause severe development defects, then this in itself is already STRONG evidence that GM food is not as dangerous as you would have us believe. " First of all, you may or may not have been exposed to GM food at the levels you suggest, as I noted above. Second of all, I never said GM food was dangerous, I said we didn't know the risks. "Additionally, what my opponent also must realize is that GM foods are tested extensively before they arrive onto the commerical market. " I ask my opponent to cite this fact or drop it, as it is unsupported as of now. "There are currently 124 million people in East-Asian countries suffering from Vitamin A Deficiency (VAD). [4] This is already being combatted with the instigation of what people refer to as "Golden Rice", which is rice with genes implanted from daffodils and bacterium. This leaves us with rice containing an abnormally large amount of Vitamin A. [5] This can be grown by VAD farmers, and comes at no cost to the consumer, whereas a vitamin supplement solution would only prove costly and unefficient. Thus, this is an example of the health benefits genetically modified foods can bring. " Such a thing is dangerous, entailing unnecessary risks. The rice could spread to other fields, and in addition to contaminating the breed of the rice in that field, it would also allow the chemical company owning "golden rice" to sue the farmers for growing their product, as the chemical company owns the right to the plant. "The texture, flavour, and ripeness of, say a tomato, can also benefit with a slight modification of genes. Through genetic modification, the tomato can gain other desirable qualities from other fruits and vegetables, even from animals and bacteria. There are real life examples of this. For example, one version of the tomato with it's enzymes repressed will last longer without going soft. This strain of tomato is being produced in small batches around the world, and comes at virtually no expense to the consumer. [6] Is this not an example of genetically modified agriculture augmenting the flavour of such a product? " Such a tomato is in essence artificial. By suppressing natural processes, you may affect things you don't know you're affecting. The risks mentioned above for golden rice also apply. And no, it doesn't benefit the flavor, it only benefits the shelf life. "Fieldcorn is another glowing GM success story. Among the 169x increase in beta carotene, 6x the vitamin C and 2x folate quantity, this GM corn is insect and virus resilent. Growing this type of corn minimizes the usage of costly pesticides, and this means that the corn itself costs less to raise, giving consumers a buying advantage. This strain of corn makes up 93% of commercially distributed corn in the US. [7]" An even better third idea is to buy organic corn that is not genetically modified, and does not use pesticides. For a small, even negligible price increase, you get natural produce that has not been modified as yours has.