Visit to Check out Monsanto's Research Lab
Last month 25 City
Mom Alums, sponsored by Illinois Farm Families, traveled to Monsanto’s
Biotechnology Research Center in St. Louis. We were given the opportunity
to ask the hard questions about their business. My main goal was to figure out what constitutes a GMO and why does it have such a
scary name.
GMO stands for genetically
modified organisms. Scary name, huh? In an effort for transparency, Monsanto
decided to keep the industry name instead of a “consumer friendly” name. Around
the Monsanto office, the term biotechnology is also used. In the end, the
process of taking a desired trait from one plant and inserting into another
plant’s DNA makes a GMO. This solves a major farming problem. For corn farmers, insects are enemy number one. One acre can
have over 4 millions insects. Yikes! My citronella candle is worthless here.
From a sign within the Monsanto office.
Monsanto sought out a trait in
the Bacillus Thuringiensis (Bt), a soil bacteria that naturally acts as a
pesticide. Scientists isolated a protein from the soil and inserted into the
corn’s DNA. The corn was crossbred with other corn plants until the correct
“recipe” for an insect resistant seed was found. In the field, once the insect
chews on the GMOs plant, it immediately stops eating and is dead within the hour.
For humans the protein is safely broken down in our digestive tract and does
not interact with our systems. This protein is regarded as environmentally friendly with no effect on human, wildlife, pollinators and other "beneficial insects." GMOs have been proven safe for human consumption
since 1997. For more information on this, please visit here.
Altering crops is nothing new.
For centuries we have altered crops through natural selection and traditional
plant breeding. Today, GMOs speed up this process. Just like centuries earlier,
crops are changed for taste, drought resistance, disease protection and yield.
Ultimately, GMOs lesson the impact farming has on the environment. These
seeds require less water, reduced tractor time - which means less fuel, fewer
pesticides with larger crops. Hopefully leads to lower consumer prices. Currently, there are eight GMO crops available: corn (sweet and field), cotton, soybeans, canola, alfalfa, sugar beets, papaya and squash.
What got my attention
was being told GMO crops have the exact same nutritional value as non-GMO
crops. The tour has not changed how I shop. Instead, when I fill up my grocery
cart, I feel smarter because I am informed on GMOs. Bring on the sweet corn,
minus the bugs thanks to GMOs.
The above opinions are solely mine but my
travel to St. Louis was covered by the Illinois Corn Growers
Association. Monsanto provided a catered lunch, tour and very nice take home
bag filled with printed materials.
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