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CHAPTER ONE WHAT ARE GMOS O n an early June morning in 2013 a farmer in southern Oregon was stunned when he saw his beet field It was ruined A group of people had destroyed more than 1,000 sugar beet plants in the middle of the night A few nights later the group destroyed another beet farmer’s crop This time the offenders killed more than 5,000 plants Some people are against the growth and use of genetically modified foods and choose to protest them 5
YOUR LIFE What Would You Do Imagine you are a carrot farmer You must spend hours each day picking weeds from your fields because you don’t like what herbicides would do to your carrots Then one day you learn scientists have created a new GM carrot If you plant this type of carrot you can spray your fields with a specific herbicide that does not affect the carrot Would you do it What if the herbicide harmed nearby animals 6 The community wondered why these events happened The answer soon became clear The farms grew genetically modified GM beets The people who destroyed the crops were protesters They did not agree with the use of GM foods Changes to Genes Genes are the chemical building blocks of all living things Scientists have discovered how to make small changes to the genes of different organisms Doing this alters how the organisms grow look and behave Plants and animals
Some grocery chains require suppliers to add a GMO label to their products with altered genetic material are called genetically modified organisms GMOs Altering food crops is not a new concept Farmers have selectively bred new crops for centuries They choose seeds from the healthiest crops to plant for the next season This results in crops with the best 7
