Did you eat breakfast today? How about lunch? Plan on eating dinner tonight? For all of the food we eat we have farmers to thank! Yet, while 100% of us eat, less than 2% of Americans are growing food commercially. As those of you who follow me on social media, read things I write here, or know me in real life are aware, I love to garden. I grow greens and some fruit and raise chickens. But I can’t feed my family everything we need just with what I grow. Thank God there are others who raise food for real!
Because so many of us do not farm, it can be hard to understand modern agriculture. I believe there’s a lot of romanticism around agriculture that omit important and practical considerations and challenges faced by today’s farmers. Fortunately, there are lots of tools that farmers can use to help them grow more food, more nutritious foods, faster and with less inputs including water, fertilizers, and pesticides. These new technologies include genetic modification and biotechnology. And considering all of the misinformation online, it can also be really scary. We sat down with our girlfriend Danielle Penick, fellow registered dietitian, to talk through this important issue and answer lots of common questions, such as…
What foods are genetically modified?
What is biotechnology in agriculture?
Are organic foods better, safer, more nutritious than conventionally grown food?
What does the non-GMO label mean?
Danielle Penick is a Registered Dietitian with a Masters of Science in Clinical Nutrition and a freelance writer. She manages the cancer nutrition blog Survivors’ Table and she has spent much of her career working with cancer patients. Currently, Penick is based in Atlanta, GA and is on the Oncology Nutrition DPG Leadership Team as a social media administrator and an admin for Build Up Dietitians.
Click to listen to DYK? Organic, GMO, Biotech in Ag or subscribe via iTunes,Stitcher, Google Play, and more by searching for Southern Fried Girlfriends Podcast on your favorite podcast app. Swing on over to The Southern Fried Girlfriends Facebook page to chat about this topic, get some other resources, and stay connected.
Resources:
- USDA Pesticide Residue Program https://www.ams.usda.gov/datasets/pdp
- EPA’s Regulation of Pesticides in Food https://www.epa.gov/pesticide-tolerances
- Resources recommended for more about biotechnology (GMOs): The National Academy of Sciences consensus study https://www.nap.edu/catalog/23395/genetically-engineered-crops-experiences-and-prospects
- Biofortified Blog: biofortified.org and Natural GMOs: The Sweet Potato article https://biofortified.org/2016/04/natural-gmos-sweet-potato/
- GMO Answers: https://gmoanswers.com
- Survivors’ Table: A comprehensive look at GMOs https://survivorstable.com/2018/10/14/do-genetically-modified-organisms-gmos-cause-cancer/
- SciMoms: https://scimoms.com/social-consequences-gmo-debate/
