The Truth about GMOs
Plant Pathologist Don Huber Reveals the Risks
interview by Melinda Hemmelgarn for Natural Awakenings

At least 70 percent of processed foods in supermarkets contain genetically modified (GMO) ingredients, mainly from corn, soy, canola, sugar beets and cottonseed oil. Yet the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not require GMO food labeling, despite overwhelming consumer support for their “right to know.”
Genetic engineering goes beyond traditional plant breeding because it allows scientists to cross species barriers and insert a gene from one organism into another that would not normally occur. Examples include inserting bacterial DNA into a plant to effect traits such as pest or herbicide resistance. Plant Pathologist and Purdue University Professor Emeritus Don Huber, Ph.D., speaks out internationally about the risky business of biotechnology.
We are told we need GMOs to “feed the world,” but will GMOs provide affordable food for the masses, as Monsanto ads tell us?
There is nothing in the GMO process that has added any new yield potential to any crop. All of the yield increases achieved in the past 15 years have been through traditional breeding programs.
When Professor Karen McAfee, an economist at Yale University, analyzed the GMO claim, she found that the only entity that benefited was the biotechnology industry (Geoforum report). Nutritional quality has suffered, food safety has been compromised by the toxic entities involved in the genetic engineering process and farmers’ production costs have increased significantly, while quality and harvested yield potential have decreased. What we see in practice are failed promises.
What is the risk and potential harm to people and the planet due to GMOs?
There are two serious risk factors involved in current genetically engineered plants. The first is an increase in plant, animal and human diseases plus pests associated with GMO crops, reported by sources as diverse as the European Journal of Agronomy, Earth Open Source and the University of Leipzig, in Germany. The second is abusive use of the chemical products that the herbicide-tolerant GMOs have been developed to tolerate; supporting studies include research published in the European Journal of Agronomy and the Fluid Fertilizer Foundation’s Forum.
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