Dear President,

As the leader of our country, you are faced with many choices for all of us. Whether those choices affect our lives a great deal or barely at all, they are still very important. An opportunity that I feel is very important and I believe should be incorporated far more in the US, is the use and funding of GMOs, or genetically modified organisms. With so many possible benefits, GMOs could improve this already amazing country even further.

The US is well known for its widespread obesity and other numerous health problems. These Americans do not have many options for healthy food they enjoy. As seen in the article “GM Tomato Tastes Better” by JR Minkel, GMOs are making nutritious food once thought to be too unpleasant to eat by some, now much better tasting. The article explains how by changing the genetic structure of a certain kind of tomato,it could have a much better flavor. If we could take advantage of more situations like the tomatoes, people could become much healthier and live longer and happier lives.

Not only can GMOs make our food taste better, it can also alter food to be much healthier. For example, in the article “GMOs with health benefits have a large market potential” written by members of Ghent University, a crop called golden rice was created which featured an enrichment of vitamin A. With a combination of both improved taste and nutrition of crops GMOs bring to the table, there is a huge potential market that is bound to create vast amounts of jobs.

With places like California (which has a large agricultural industry) that are having constant water shortages, it is becoming increasingly hard to farm. But as explained in the article “What are the benefits of GMOs, both today and in the future?” by the us farmers and ranchers alliance, GMOs are allowing crops to require less water. This could prevent massive amounts of money lost by farmers and the agriculture industry. Not only will this help areas in need of water, it could reduce costs for all farmers, resulting in cheaper crops for everyone.

When people hear GMOs, only bad thoughts come to mind. For this reason GMOs have not had as fair of a shot as they should to make an impact on society. People have the idea that changing the genetic structure of an organism will directly result in harming the consumer. What these people don’t realize is that if done carefully, changing a very small amount of genes is extremely unlikely to harm humans as stated in the article “Yes, GMOs Are Safe (Another Major Study Confirms)”, written by Forbes. I feel that if enough time and money is put towards GMOs, they will be very safe to our health. In my opinion the amount of benefits GMOs could give society far outweigh the risks.

There is an endless amount of possibilities that come with GMOs. Fruits and vegetables shelf lives can be increased with their use which would potentially save American businesses billions of dollars alone. With how much GMOs could reduce the cost of crops, poor families would be able to incorporate healthier and cheaper food into their diets. Pesticides that could actually be harmful for our consumption could be cut out of the equation by properly engineering crops that would defend bugs. The list of aids to society GMOs have to offer goes on and on.

In conclusion GMOs are the future and have amazing possible benefits for our society. They need to become a priority for a plethora of reasons including increased food flavor, nutrition, reduced water usage, more accessible produce, and plenty more. I believe that it's not whether we start largely funding GMO research, it’s when. So Mr. or Mrs. President, I strongly urge you to incorporate GMOs into your plan to make this nation and the lives of the amazing people who live here better.

Sincerely,

Charlie Skadron

10th grade

Saint Paul, MN