Growing up as a kid in the Spokane Valley, every year we would grow a garden. We planted corn, tomatoes, potatoes, onions, peppers, squash, pumpkins, strawberries, rhubarb and more.
I loved eating the food from our garden however, I didn’t enjoy having to weed the garden. Looking back I probably netted more strawberries in my belly than weeds picked. My intentions were to get all the weeds picked in one day so I could play and this plan worked unless a creepy crawly thing showed up, then it was game over.
I really didn’t give much thought growing up about where my food came from. food was food and there weren’t Genetically Modified Organisms(GMO’s) or Conventionally grown versus Organic concerns because all food was what we now call organic.
So, what happened to our food? Why did we change a great thing and mess with nature? The answer isn’t simple and it’s controversial.
The first genetically modified plant was produced in 1983, using an antibiotic-resistant tobacco plant. In 1984, the transgenic Flvr Savr tomato was approved by the FDA for marketing in the US-the modification allowed the tomato to delay ripening after picking. This was just the beginning. For a detailed timeline, visit gmoinsider.org.
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