Genetically Modified Crops: Panacea or Failed Promise

Genetically modified crops are touted as a panacea for many of the challenges modern farmers face. From pestilence and drought to declining yields, GM crops promise to make farming easier and more profitable for farmers while lessening the impact of agrochemicals. With each new harvest, it becomes increasingly clear that GM crops are yet another failed technological fix leaving us awash in adverse downstream effects. 

Sometimes referred to as the second green revolution, the development of GM crops doubled down on the industrialization of agriculture which began with the widespread adoption of synthetic fertilizers and the hybrid breeding efforts of the original green revolution. Genetically modified plants are developed by selecting a desirable trait from another organism (typically bacteria) and inserting its DNA into an existing plant variety. The new transgenic variety expresses desired traits from the other organism.  

Roundup Ready corn is the most prevalent GM crop variety, covering 70% of corn acreage in the US. It contains a gene from a specific species of bacteria, which makes it resistant to the herbicidal effects of Roundup, the popular weed killer used on over 300 million acres of farmland in the US and on lawns and gardens alike. As a result, RR corn came with the promise of better and more efficient weed control, improved yields, lower requirements of agrochemicals, and a higher profit margin for the farmer. 

After the first decade and a half of widespread RR corn planting, herbicide use in the US increased by 35 million pounds annually, largely due to the emergence of “superweeds” that developed resistance to the increased herbicide application rates. It is well known that the use of herbicides comes with grave second-order effects. For example, glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, has well-documented detrimental repercussions on the health of soil and plants, including non-target plants. 

If that doesn’t hit home for some, this might: crops grown in fields where Roundup is sprayed have significantly lower concentrations of minerals and health-promoting phytochemicals. The glyphosate residues in these crops also disrupt the gut microbiome and damage mitochondria. This goes for Roundup-ready GM crops and the 70-plus other crops grown in systems that use Roundup. So not only does the increased use of Roundup over this period renege on the original promise of RR corn, it also jeopardizes the health of our land and food. 

In the early days, some GM crops did show a favorable yield response, but over time yields have tapered off due to the decline of soil health as beneficial microbes, soil structure, and nutrient availability all suffer. For many farmers, the only way they see forward is the continuation of the industrial model, which keeps them afloat in the short term yet compounds the secondary effects in the longer term. Farming has become untenable in this scenario as farmers fork over more money to the purveyors of industrialization each year. In other words, the farmers are being farmed. 

While some of these points may be debated by industrial farming enthusiasts, the underlying theme of applying a technological fix without regard for the downstream effects cannot be ignored. Unlike other products of industrialization, how we grow our food has far-reaching consequences that dictate the health of our land and bodies, therefore, our society. To continue down this path unabated, knowing well the shortcomings of preceding events like the green revolution is ignorance. 

After several decades of experimenting with GM crops, it’s clear that the technology is not only failing on its promise, these crops and the associated way of farming have exacerbated the decline of ecological and human health. 

Instead, we need to reimagine an agriculture system where technology accentuates the power of nature, not attempts to control it. We need to understand agriculture through a bio-regional context rather than colonizing rich, diverse lands with sterile, uniform mono-crops. And finally, we need to see food as nourishment and medicine rather than simple caloric units.