Resolved: On Balance, the benefits of Genetically Modified Foods Outweigh the Harms

Because I believe that innovation is the key to the future, I affirm Resolved: On balance, the benefits of genetically modified foods outweigh the harms. I offer the following three contentions to support a PRO ballot. Contention I-Health Despite the claims made by numerous pundits, a 10 year analysis of 1783 scientific records by Alessandro Nicolia of the University of Perugia concludes, "The scientific research conducted so far has not detected any significant hazard directly connected with the use of GM crops." In fact, GM foods hold great promise in improving the health conditions of millions. Most notably, William Langridge of The Scientific American reports that GM foods can be used as superior vehicles for vaccines due to their low cost and high accessibility. According to Maria Clemente of the Biotechnology Research Institute, one of the most remarkable advancements has been the development a vaccine for Malaria, which currently has no such countermeasure. The impact of such technology is staggering as the CDC reports that 627,000 people die annually from Malaria. Contention II-Adaptability GM foods also allow for farmers to rapidly adapt to a wide variety of otherwise unfavorable circumstances. These conditions can be placed into three broad categories. First, Cornell University explains that many crops are susceptible to viruses which are very difficult to control. However, "yellow squash, papaya, and potatoes species have now been genetically engineered to resist such plant viruses." Second, The Telegraph notes that By 2030 the world will need to increase global food production by 50 percent as the population grows, but wheat and rice, which provide most of the world's calories, are sensitive to heat during their growing process making them susceptible to high temperatures. However, Philip Wigge of the John Innes Centre in Norwich has engineered plants so that they are able to grow in a more diverse range of temperatures. Third, Jim Wallace of the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology reports that the increased agricultural output required to feed future generations will put enormous pressure on freshwater resources. He quantifies that the percentage of the world"s population living in areas where water is scarce will increase almost tenfold from 7% to 67% by 2050. Thankfully, numerous GM crops have been designed to resist such drought conditions. Most notably, the non-profit organization Water Efficient Maize for Africa has been designing a form of drought resistant corn, set to be released this year in Kenya, that will increase farmers" yields in drought conditions by as much as 500%. Contention III-Efficiency A literature review of 721 studies by Timo Kaphengst of the Ecologic Institute of Berlin reports that GM foods can also posses numerous traits that improve their efficiency such as immunity to herbicides like Roundup and the ability to produce their own insecticide. These traits allow farmers to spray fewer chemicals. Overall, Kaphengst concludes that GM crops lead to yield increases of as high as 46% primarily through reduced losses from insects and weeds. The benefits of these efficiencies are threefold. First, they lower food prices. David Zilberman of UC Berkeley quantifies that in the absence of GM crops worldwide, food prices would be as much as 43% higher. Such a price hike would be devastating as the World Bank estimates that just a 1% increase in global food prices puts almost 3 million people into poverty. Second, they preserve the environment. Zilberman furthers that without the efficiency of GM foods, an area the size of Utah would have had to have been converted into farmland to produce the same amount of food. Moreover, a study by Peter Barfoot published in Landes Bioscience quantifies that GM foods have reduced the environmental impact associated with herbicide and insecticide use on crops by 18.7%. Third, they have been an economic boom for farmers. A study by Graham Brookes Published in Taylor and Francis finds that since the adoption of GM crops, farmers have accrued over $100 billion in economic gains. For all these reasons and many more, I strongly urge a PRO ballot.