Dear President of the United States,

Did you know that a food's label doesn't always specify the artificial ingredients it contains?  People have the right to know what’s in their food. It is critical to our health that we eliminate the use of hormones and GMOs in our food. What are GMOs exactly? The Institute For Responsible Technology declares that they are genetically modified organisms; results of laboratory procedures where genes from one species are taken and synthetically forced into an unrelated plant or animal. These genes can come from bacteria, viruses, insects, animals, or even humans.

GMOs and unnatural hormones affect the way our body grows. These things are very significant to children, as they are responsible to the way kids develop. August McLaughlin, a certified nutritionist with more than nine years of experience, states that consuming too many hormones as a child will cause early puberty to occur. When you’re young, your hormone levels are low, and don’t increase until you get older. Hormones get into our food through everything that’s injected in animals. When we eat the food they produce, it makes our hormone levels unbalanced. Added hormones also increase the risk of getting cancer. These include breast and prostate cancer. Evidence that GMOs are affecting us is that when they were introduced in 1994, the amount of people with food allergies increased.

Genetically modified organisms cause plants and animals to be less diverse. The added DNA in organisms will make them all have similar traits. A group of graduates from Harvard University explain that genetic diversity is needed because it allows things to adapt better to the changing environment. It means in a large group, several populations could have the genes to fight off a virus. In a group where everything is genetically similar, one virus could wipe out everything at once.

Organic authority, a website devoted to spreading the word about nutrition, claims that once you start using GMOs, you can’t go back. Seeds contaminated with hormones and GMOs can pollute other plants. A good example of this would be when Milkweed was once contaminated, monarch butterflies started to die. Seeds containing GMOs can also blow into other farms where the owners are trying to keep their crops organic.

However, genetically modified organisms can be useful. According to many people they help crops grow a lot faster, which could be a solution to hunger all over the country. National Geographic argues that GMOs aren’t actually proven to increase the yield of crops. Along with that, by creating more GMOs we are exposing more people to the risk of getting sick. Another argument against eliminating GMOs is that organic food is too expensive. I believe organic food is worth the price because it helps to make your life healthier. Organic foods can also decrease the possibility of getting seriously sick. Despite these benefits, it can be almost impossible to eat 100% organic food.  Carina Storrs, a science and health journalist states that you can’t get away from dairy products with added hormones. Most of the dairy products sold in grocery stores, organic and artificial, contain GMOs. You can cut down on them though, and that will help.

People don’t realize what GMOs can do to us. It’s terrible that parts of this society aren’t even aware of them and kept in the dark because it’s never mentioned on the label. Dr. David Suzuki made an excellent point when he said, “Anyone that says, ‘Oh, we know that GMOs are perfectly safe,’ I say is either unbelievably stupid, or deliberately lying. The reality is, we don’t know. The experiments simply haven’t been done, and now we have become the guinea pigs.”

Sincerely,

A girl concerned about the future