Are GMO's actually bad?

[Bring4th_Austin]

The discussion of synthetic vs. organic methods for combating pests is certainly valid. The issue with the organic label is that it has become very industrialized. In the (not so) distant past, you could count on organic food to be grown by farmers who were doing so out of concern for the environment and health of the plant and consumer, but as organic has become more and more trendy, it's natural that it would become industrialized and lose its core value. In the past, you could count on an organic label to imply that it was grown responsibly, despite the regulations not necessarily enforcing that responsibility. It is certainly not the case now, as the organic label is becoming more and more of a marketing tactic rather than simple information.

But what I think is a more important issue, as TTP touched on, is soil health. Using synthetic fertilizers, while in itself is not harmful to the plant or the consumer, perpetuates a method of farming that is ultimately harmful to the environment. The most effective method of fertilizing soil organically necessarily involves building up and maintaining a natural soil health. If we shrink our lens onto the ecosystem simply to the soil in which the plants are grown, you would be shocked at how thriving actual healthy soil is. It is teeming with life, from microbes to worms to bugs, all of these things interacting in a way that grows healthy plants and ensures that healthy plants could continue to grow even if the farming was stopped.

Using synthetic fertilizer makes this ecosystem completely invalid, as it is able to deliver exactly the right kind of nutrients directly to the plant at exactly the right time, all controlled by human oversight. There is no need to tend to soil quality, as the soil at that point simply becomes a base in which to deliver your fertilizers. The ecosystem within the soil is neglected and ignored and it slowly dies as the ecosystem is killed off to only support a single type of living organism (whatever crop you are growing). If you watch an organic field tilled and plowed, you'll notice birds all over the place coming to pick out the worms in the soil. Watching a non-organic field, there are no birds, because there are no worms (at least, if the field has been used consistently without soil care).

Eventually, a field becomes barren and there is a ripple effect moving out to surrounding ecosystems, harming a wide range of life.

To me, it is a matter of philosophy and principle much more than a matter of health (though I do care about the health aspect). GMOs and synthetic chemicals (and some organic chemicals) are utilized in a way which is meant to dominate nature and eliminate natural biodiversity. They are, by their nature, separating us from the process in which the Earth provides us with sustenance. They strive to control the environment and strive for a sanitized canvas, free from any sort of actual nature. GMOs don't necessarily need to be used this way, but it is how they are being used.

I believe that we, as humans, must learn to see ourselves as stewards and companions of the Earth, rather than a pinnacle species with dominion over the natural world. There is good evidence that permaculture practices can provide plenty of food for the world so long as they are implemented locally (which is implied in the nature of permaculture). Leaders in the permaculture field, such as Geoff Lawton, have been able to create sustainable food growing systems in environments that must typically import food from more "fertile" places. If implemented world-wide, permaculture would drastically reduce the need to transport food from one area to another. On top of that, the philosophy behind permaculture strives to achieve a relationship with nature that I feel is exactly the type of relationship we need to come into harmony with the Earth.

I do think that it would impact both our personal health as well as environmental health, but more than that, it would help orient humans to see the Earth as more than a realm to dominate and bend to our wills, but as a world that is not separate from us. Working with our environment, rather than against it, is a central tenet to my own living philosophy which is informed by the Law of One. And anyone who desires to live out this type of philosophy should be able to make informed purchases of their food. Maybe not every non-GMO product is going to be more healthy for the environment, but "voting with your money" is a small first step in eliminating the mentality of domination over nature.