Genetically Modified Foods

Can you imagine going to an elegant restaurant this Valentine's Day, sitting down with your sweetheart to read the menu by candlelight, and as you skim through the specials, you notice the description saying "Delicious genetically modified stewed tomatoes served alongside delicately genetically modified corn and chicken..." You would not be enticed! Regardless of the fact that you may in fact be eating dishes that are loaded with genetically modified food items, would you really want to know it? For me, I get peeved when I restaurants include any sort of nutritional info on their menus - I can't help but look at it, but it's such a downer! After seeing it, I am sure to be plagued with dieter's guilt with each and every fat and calorie-laden bite I take! I really feel that sometimes you just have to forget about what you're eating and just enjoy the food, and that is quite hard to do when you are surrounded by virtual caution tape everywhere you look.

On the other hand, when I am grocery shopping, I do want to know what I am buying. I look at the calories, the fat content, the sugar content, et cetera. I never make blind purchases at the grocery store - at least not since a little over a year ago when I started developing a much healthier lifestyle. I think that many people are like me, too. When I go grocery shopping, I am certainly not the only person who turns to the side or back of every package before putting it in their cart in order to read the nutritional information. It would make perfect sense for there to be an indication of whether the food has or hasn't been genetically modified. A simple sticker would suffice - it wouldn't even offend me if the sticker was as small and said nothing more than "GM." Most likely, if products were being labeled with "GM" stickers, products that were not genetically modified would also be labeled - boldly - as non-GM products, and that would probably make the non-GM products more appealing to certain consumers.

Really, the jury is still out on the extent of damage - or the extent of the benefits - that could result from consuming a diet that is laden with genetically modified food items. However, EVERYDAY we find out that something else is bad for us - artificial sweeteners, red meat (one day it's a no-no, the next it's a must), real butter, margarine, et cetera. I mean, these unknowns are just a part of life, and to me, it seems that the pros outweigh the cons right now. GM foods could change the hunger problem in the world, and that is a HUGE plus that really cannot be trumped by anything - unless it were said absolutely that GM foods could kill you.