The Story of The Seeds:
Genetically modified:
-Bt engineered corn, a corn with DNA spliced with a natural herbicide, can kill more than 90% of the Corn Rootworm, a serious pest. 
-Monsanto's DroughtGard Maize has been proven to grow normally under drought conditions, and certain subjects even up to 25% increase in growth.
-Vitamin A deficiency affects up to 500,000 children a year. Golden Rice, infused with Vitamin A, has been touted as the solution.
-Farmers only have to fork out US$6.50 per bushel of genetically modified soya beans.

Organic:
-More than 50% of Rootworms survive in organic fields, resulting in wasted efforts when crops are destroyed. 
-In the same study, the crop yield of normal maize fell by 50% due to a drought.
-People have to consume green vegetables, meats, clean water and supplements to meet their Vitamin A needs. Unfortunately, millions of poor communities cannot afford these, resulting in mass malnutrition. 
-Farmers are forced to spend a staggering US$14.40 per bushel of organic soya beans. 

Source: Present Perfect 2013 Issue (The Food Issue)

Therefore, it is evident that gm crops hold more value to organic crops, concluding that genetically modified crops are more feasible and worth investing in compared to organic crops.

List of the Top 10 Genetically Modified 

Products:

10. Sugar Beets.  
The sugar beet is one of the newest GM foods and one under severe scrutiny. Researchers produced an herbicide-resistant crop of GM sugar beets that was approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 2008 but banned in August 2010. The genetic modification was meant to improve production because beets grow slowly and tend to battle for light and nutrients with nearby weeds. In 2010, however, federal judge Jeffrey S. White revoked the USDA approval of genetically-modified sugar beets based on the USDA's failure to present an Environmental Impact Statement ("EIS"). Until an EIS is conducted, planting, harvesting and processing of GM sugar beets has been halted.
9. Potatoes. 
In 1991, the World Health Organization challenged scientists to look for a way to make vaccines accessible to everyone. This would mean that children in impoverished areas of the world wouldn't have to travel for hours to a nearby village to get a shot. The scientists succeeded faster than expected, creating a cholera vaccine-like component by injecting a series of genes into a potato. These genes prompt the human immune system to produce its own cholera antibodies or "vaccine."  The "anti-cholera potatoes" have not made it to the market yet; scientists need to figure out how to package the potatoes to easily distribute and market them.

Protecting potato crops is important too. Researchers are working on a way to produce potatoes that are resistant to disease caused by Phytophthora infestans. Phytophthora infestans can kill entire crops rapidly and was the cause of the Irish Potato Famine of the 1840s.

8. Corn. 

Bt-corn is a form of sweet corn that has been genetically modified to include an insect-killing gene. This means the farmer doesn't have to spray with pesticides, because the insects die from eating the corn. No spraying means less harm to the environment and the workers handling the toxic spray. According to the USDA, farmers in every state in the U.S. are growing at least some GM corn at any given time. The numbers are higher in the Southern and Midwestern regions, but South Dakota leads the pack, lending 47 percent of its corn crops to GM varieties. Because the U.S. is the largest producer of corn in the world, these numbers have a significant impact beyond the American borders.

7. Tomatoes. 
Although tomatoes were the first genetically modified food to reach the market(the Flavr Savr tomato), they have since been altered for only one reason: to make them last longer. GM tomatoes don't rot as quickly as regular tomatoes, so they can tolerate longer periods of transportation. GM tomatoes also can be left to mature on the plants, rather than being picked green. This results in a more tasty tomato that doesn't need to be stored until ripening.

The original GM tomatoes were resistant to antibiotics. This raised concerns that the gene might be passed on to humans, making us more resistant to antibiotics and in turn less capable of fighting infectious diseases. However, new forms of GM tomatoes don't contain these genes.

6. Squash. 
Squash is more prone than some crops to viral diseases, which is why it was genetically modified to ensure crop survival. The original purpose was achieved, but the modification backfired in an unexpected way. It seems cucumber beetles that carry bacterial wilt disease like to feed on healthy plants, like the GM squash. After visiting unhealthy plants, they land on the healthy GM squash plant and wound the leaves and leave open holes on them. 

Experts also believe that the GM squash may have already found its way into the wild by accident. GM foods are meant to be grown under controlled environments, in well-tended fields. If they're introduced and mixed with wild varieties of the same species, a number of unpredictable environmental issues could occur, such as gene transfer or the plants becoming more vulnerable to bacterial diseases.

5. Golden Rice. 

Golden rice was first created to fight vitamin A deficiency, which affects 250 million people around the world and can cause blindness and even death. Rice is one of the most common foods on Earth. In fact, almost half of the world's population survives on a single daily bowl of rice. Because getting vitamin supplements to every single person on the planet would be impossible, scientists believed that the answer was to create a grain of rice that already had vitamin A in it. And so golden rice was born. Its name came from the bright golden glow added beta-carotene causes. The body converts beta carotene into vitamin A. 

Scientists now are working on a new GM rice. This new variety would have an iron gene, causing the grain of rice to become an important source of iron. Iron-deficiency causes low-birth-weight babies and anemia, both of which can be fatal. It hasn't been possible to combine both vitamin A and iron in the same grain, but scientists are hopeful that this will be possible at some point in the future.

4. Soybean.

As of 2004, 85 percent of the soybeans grown on U.S. soil have been genetically modified. Because soy is widely used in the production of other items (including cereal, baked products, chocolate and even ice cream), chances are everybody in the U.S. is eating GM soy. It might be worth noting, however, that tofu and soy sauce are usually made from non-GM soybeans, a variation from most other soy products, which likely are GM-based. The bulk of the soybean crop is not destined to human consumption but instead used for livestock feed. For those who aren't vegetarians, this becomes another source of GM foods, as the gene is passed on through the meat.
3. Oils. 
The U.S., India and China are the world's largest producers of GM cottonseed oil. As a result, it's hard to avoid this GM food. In the U.S., GM-modified oils are sold as cooking oils, but also commonly used for frying snacks such as potato chips and also used in the production of margarine. Canola or rapeseed oil became an important crop only after being genetically modified. Before that, the oil was too bitter to be used in foods. The modification did away with the bitterness and also increased rapeseed's resistance to herbicides. This allows crops to be sprayed with weed-control products without running the risk of affecting the actual crops.
2. Animal Feed. 
A large part of the GM presence in animal feed does not come from foodstuff but instead from additives aimed at making food more nutritious. Animal feed is commonly enhanced with vitamins, amino acids, enzymes and even coloring. These additives are passed on to the animal's system and eventually make their way into your body when you consume meat, eggs or dairy products. Traces of GM cannot, however, be detected in animal by-products, so it's impossible to know if an animal was raised on GM-enhanced feed. 
1. Salmon. 

Genetically engineered food from animals might not be on the market yet, but a few already have been approved. GM salmon is on its way to our dinner table. Wild salmon matures slowly, taking up to three years to reach its full size. GM salmon, on the other hand, not only will grow faster but also should reach about twice the size of its wild cousin. The creators of the GM salmon, a private company called AquaBounty, promises to harvest the salmon before it reaches its full size, thus preventing "giant" versions. The GM salmon, known as AquAdvantage, is meant to be grown in fish farms. According to proponents of the modification, this would reduce fishing of wild salmon, in turn protecting both the wild population of fish and the environment from human intrusion.

http://dsc.discovery.com/tv-shows/curiosity/topics/10-genetically-modified-food-products.htm

http://www.whataboutwatermelon.com/index.php/2010/09/the-truth-about-seedless-watermelon/

THE TRUTH ABOUT SEEDLESS WATERMELON

National Watermelon Promotion Board explains that A seedless watermelon is a sterile hybrid, created by crossing male pollen for a watermelon, containing 22 chromosomes per cell, with a female watermelon flower with 44 chromosomes per cell. When this seeded fruit matures, the small, white seed coats inside contain 33 chromosomes, rendering it sterile and incapable of producing seeds. 

Seedless watermelons are considered as a younger relative of the traditional seeded watermelon. Despite being new, the seedless watermelon actually outsells its seeded peers by a significant margin. According to the National Watermelon Promotion Board, only 16 percent of watermelon sold in grocery stores has seeds. In 2003, that number was 43 percent. 

-This shows that these genetically modified watermelons are safe for human consumption and are gradually being accepted and favoured by the general public, refuting arguments that food that are genetically altered are unsafe to be consumed by humans.

This website is about the World Health Organisation's(WHO) input on genetically modified foods. It answers the most common 20 questions asked by people on gm foods.
http://www.who.int/foodsafety/publications/biotech/20questions/en/

I once posted about GM foods being produced for commercial purposes. Here is a page from the 3 issue of Present Perfect for this year.

To summarise, this article talks about the cons of organic food, and about how organic food growing is not sustainable due to the world hunger problem of today's world population , cost-effectiveness and more.

Disadvantages Of Organic Food?

Guest post by Jerett Turner

The trouble with organic food is not in eating organic. Who can argue against consuming fruits, vegetables, and grains grown without pesticides? Organic isn’t a new concept. It’s more of an old concept that’s been re-discovered. As far as I know, 19th century farms didn’t use lab synthesized fertilizers. But I would argue that organic has a long way to go before it becomes mainstream…again.

Below are a few reasons why organic isn’t turning everyone’s head just yet:

Cultivation and Productivity

Organic is paraded as better for the environment and our bodies. Again, it seems hard to argue that putting man made chemicals on our food is superior for either us or the ground.

But the current food cultivation and production system is what has allowed first world countries to progress so quickly. Growers and distributors have tweaked and refined a food system that runs near flawless. Rarely a day passes without your favorite local grocery store being stocked from floor to ceiling.

Organic growing, on the other hand, is inherently a slower process. Crops must be rotated more often to allow the dirt to replenish its nutrients. Weeding and pest control require more human eyes and hands to manage. Weather dictates what and when plants can be grown. The result? Lower harvest yields. And different produce throughout the year.

We don’t think twice that we can pick up a bunch of bananas or bag of oranges on our way home from work in the middle of January. Our food—it’s just there

In other words, organic is inconvenient. Why spend an entire Saturday morning hunting down produce when I can drive five minutes and buy anything I want anytime of the year? And when I do find organic produce in a more convenient location (i.e. a giant grocery store), it’s more expensive.

Cost and Distribution

Organic growers simply don’t have the manpower or, quite frankly, the technology to grow on a large scale. But, that’s the point. The only technology that organic needs more of is the sun.

Organic produce is left on the vine longer to ripen. Food that is fully ripened before it hits store shelves is usually rotten by the time it makes it. Mass produced food is picked early and allowed to ripen on it’s cross-country journey to retail outlets. Large trucks can carry tons of produce without worry that it will spoil in transit.

Organic must be picked late and quickly sold. This isn’t a novel concept. Our farming ancestors picked their ripened produce and either canned it for later use or kept it in a root cellar. When you’re growing most, if not all, your food, you’re typically not concerned with long term freshness.

Sustainability
One distinct advantage of organic farming is crop rotation. Crop rotation allows soil to naturally replenish nutrients. In mass food production, the soil is chemically recharged. In this way, land can be harvested indefinitely.

So the question remains, how do we continue to feed a growing country (and world) with a system that slows down production? A system that requires land to stay fallow every few seasons? How to work effectively within the disadvantages of organic farming? Within any disadvantage of organic food?

The only answer is that more individuals must take it upon themselves to grow, or raise, a portion of their own food. Either in back yards or on small land plots. A large scale organic food system is the sum of it’s individuals. We as individuals are the key to large scale organic food production.

There are organic food disadvantages, but they can all be overcome. But it will take time and it will take effort from many people.

http://worldsstrongestlibrarian.com/7574/disadvantages-of-organic-food/

GM food: we can no longer

afford to ignore its advantages

To alleviate some of the worst dangers from the looming food crisis, we must tap into the rich potential of genetic modification

Given the crises facing the planet, with the population set to reach the 9 billion mark by 2050 and increasing strains being placed on water, energy and food supplies, it would be wrong to hope there could be a single solution to the storms that lie ahead. 

However, the population biologist added a crucial caveat. It would also be foolish not to make the maximum use of the new technologies that we are developing in order to alleviate some of the worst dangers we will face in the decades that lie ahead.

And among those scientific wonders, the use of genetically modified crops has a particularly rich potential, Beddington added. "Just look at the problems that the world faces: water shortages and salination of existing water supplies, for example. GM crops should be able to deal with that."

It is a good point. Consider the simple issue of food that is lost before it can be harvested because it has been eaten by pests that humans have never learned to control. That loss comes to around 30%, agriculture experts calculate, a rate that cannot be allowed to continue. And GM crops are perfectly placed to solve that sort of problem.

The work of scientists at the Rothamsted research station in England provides a good example of the sort of benefits that can be achieved through genetic modification. They have engineered a strain of wheat so that it emits a chemical called E-beta-farnesene which is also emitted by aphids when they are threatened. In effect, it tells other aphids to fly away. For good measure, E-beta-farnesene also attracts aphid predators such as ladybirds and wasps. In short, it delivers a double whammy – and one with rich potential. Aphids cause an estimated £100m of damage to crops every year in the UK alone.

At present, the effectiveness of Rothamsted's anti-aphid GM wheat has only been demonstrated in the laboratory. Earlier this year field trials were prepared but were threatened by anti-GM campaigners. However, their protest fizzled out, a development that suggests the green movement is growing up over its opposition to genetically modified crops.

In the end, however, science can only delay the inevitable, as Lester Brown of the Earth Policy Institute in Washington has made clear. We need to act now to start to cope with crises over water supply, world population numbers and rising carbon emissions in the hope that advances in agriculture and genetics can give us time for such measures to be introduced and take effect.

Or, as Beddington has made clear, there are almost a billion people today who are suffering from serious food shortages and who face starvation. "It is unimaginable that in the next 10 to 20 years there will not be a worsening of that problem unless we take action now, and we have to include the widest possible range of solutions."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/oct/13/gm-food-crops-genetic-modification