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What is GMO?

Genetically modified organisms (GMO's) are altered at the genetic level by various
methods. Their basic premise is based on taking genes from one plant, animal,
bacteria, virus, etc. and putting it into another. The concept of GMO food has gained
widespread application and favor in the United States where the vast majority of
canola, corn, cotton, papaya, soybeans and beets are gmo varieties. This technology
has also been applied to various animals, especially fish.
GMO's have been touted by many as being the next "green revolution", providing
A recent supreme court ruling (news article and courts opinion) has ruled in favor of
biotech giant, and largest seed company in the world, Monsanto. They argued that it
is patent infringement to save GMO seeds from last years crop in order to plant the
coming crop. This decision forces farmers to buy new seed every year rather than
saving some of the harvest from previous years (an ancient tradition). This puts
biotech firms at an advantage, skewing supply and demand, especially since the big
three biotech firms now own and control over 50% of world sales.
The ability for farmers to choose non-GMO seeds to avoid this issue is becoming
increasingly difficult as the U.S. is now over 91% GMO soy, 85% GMO corn, 88%
GMO cotton, 80% GMO papaya, 95% GMO sugar beet, with more GMO products
like wheat and various trees just coming onto the market.
Furthermore, GMO products such as genetic use restriction technology (GURT) or
"terminator seeds" have created a climate of fear for many, due to the fact that
farmers cannot save those seeds to plant the following year as they are made to be
sterile after one year. This technology forces farmers to buy more seed each year.