It is well known that many fruits and vegetables at the supermarket (as well as salmon) are genetically modified. As to whether it's safe or not, I am not sure, but at the same time, it irks me that GMO crops can affect normal varieties through cross-pollination. For example, some of Hawaii's papaya trees are contaminated by GMO, so it would be hard to avoid them at the grocery store. Not to mention, GMO seeds are patented, so farmers have to spend additional money that they wouldn't have to spend if they could save their seed.
Most packaged foods have GMO foods in them, so most people in the US consume GMO products whether they like it or not. If a search is done using the query "Why do people not trust GMO", only pro-GMO articles come up. That makes no sense, as I would expect to see at least some reasons from anti-GMO writers on the web on page 1. Scientific studies are unanimous on the finding that GMOs are perfectly safe (no surprise there), which is what many of these pro-GMO folks lean on. Although this is reassuring to those who have to consume GMO products due to convenience, availability, or price, science is not perfect, and GMOs are still relatively new on the grand scale of agriculture.
Regardless, if I am growing my own food, and non-GMO seeds are available at low cost, why not non-GMO? The most common modification is to make the plant more resistant to herbicide or Round -up. Do you really want to eat pesticides? The other reasons, like making a crop more productive, drought resistant, or disease resistant, are more noble, but then again, there are plants that are suited to each area. This is the problem with centralized, big farming, with not enough people growing their own food in their backyards. Making a crop sweeter is another thing that contributes to a sweet tooth that many in the US, including me, have a problem with. Some sweet is okay, but super sweet? I beg to differ.
If you are a small area, you can just have one cash crop that grows well in your area, without having to worry about it being drought resistant, or disease resistant. Some plant varieties are naturally that way. Wheat was altered to be more productive, but it is now less nutritious. It is debated whether this contributed to the rise of gluten allergies as well. At the very least, I want to grow things that require the least effort from me, with good yields. So far, kale and tomato can handle the heat excellently.
According to the Monsanto website, the 10 varieties are: corn, soybeans, cotton, alfalfa, sugar beets, canola, squash, papaya, potato, and apple. I recall hearing that some strawberries have been crossed with fish DNA to create a more freeze-resistant strawberry, and that those are the large but flavorless variety seen at stores in the off season, but I am not sure on that.
For me, what I like about GMO the least is that animal DNA and plant DNA are possibly crossed. Couldn't they just stick with crossing plant DNA?
Even though organics are sold, they could easily be GMO fruits and veggies without use of pesticides, so if I saved seeds from them, I am not sure the plant that grows will be non-GMO. There's also no guarantee that what you grow will not be crossed with a GMO crop someone else is growing, so one can't be too concerned about things, at least in this world.
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