Biotechnology and labeling

My personal opinion is that producers should put labels on food to let consumers know if it is GM or not. Consumers have the right choose what they want to eat. They should not be kept unaware of what is going inside their body. So, that in the end they are the ones reliable for what they choose and not the producers.
Advantages of labeling:
The number one advantage of labeling is that consumers would know what they are eating and based on the labeling information they can decide weather or not they want to eat it or not.
In my opinion another advantage is that if everything is clearly labeled on the packages, then it will not be the producers liability later on. And the only one responsible would be the consumer because the consumer was provided with all the necessary information
Many people are allergic to the proteins used in biotechnology and by labeling all the information, those consumer would be warned to to eat that food. This would again mean that the producers will not be held reliable later on as everything was printed on the label before.
Disadvantages of labeling:
The primary disadvantage of labeling biotechnology derived food is that most people will not prefer that food and instead opt for regular food. This will mean great loss to the producers of the company.
Another disadvantage of labeling the crops derived from biotechnology has higher yields and if the consumers don't buy it after seeing the label, then the GM food producers would have to slow down the production. This will cause a rise in the price of food which consumers will have pay and also there will not be enough food to feed the world. It is biotechnology that has made it possible to feed the growing population.
Conclusion:
I think that overall, if it is labeled that a food is GM or not, then consumers would benefit from it as they can chose weather or not they want to eat it or not base on their resources. While producers would certainly feel a decrease in the sale of their food as most people would opt for regular food instead of GM food. But, society will also suffer negatively from the labeling as the population is growing so fast and the only way to feed it is through increasing the food supply by biotechnology.

Advantages and disadvantages of biotechnology

After reading more about biotechnology I think that in today's date biotechnology has more upside than down-sides. Either the downsides of biotechnology are not know yet or we are just overestimating the dangers of consuming GM foods.
Advantage
The number one advantage of biotechnology is the increased production of food. Biotechnology has made it possible to produce crops that are disease resistant, drought resistant so the yield of the crops is increased dramatically. The increased production of food has made it possible to feed the growing population. Increased quantity of food also means that consumers will pay a decent price for the food.
Biotechnology has also made it possible to grow crops without the use of much chemicals, pesticides and herbicides since the GM crops already have built in immunity to diseases and pests. This means that GM crops are environment friendly and will spare environment unlike the usual crops which required a bundle of chemicals to be sprayed on them which afterwards damaged the environment.
Due to biotechnology, the cost of producing crops is decrease since the need for pesticides and herbicides is decreased. This had increased efficiency in the field of agriculture and reduced the overall cost. This also means that the consumers are also not going to have to pay a lot of money for the food since the cost of producing it was less.
Some GM crops produced by biotechnology are also high in some nutrients that ordinary crops are not high in. This is a very good benefit of biotechnology, since it is very healthy for the consumers to get the extra nutrients from GM crops. For example, golden rice which has extra iron and Vitamin A which can help save people from going blind in undeveloped countries due to vitamin A deficiency.
Another benefit from biotechnology is that it has increased the shelf life of some crops which is a good trait for the producers, seller and consumers. It will make food to stay fresh longer.

Disadvantages
One fear from the use of biotechnology is that the genes could be transferred to other crops which they are not intended to go in and lead to problem, since the transfer of the genes would not be known. Consumers could get an allergic reaction to the food when they consume food that is contaminated with the gene or bacteria transmitted through cross-pollination unknowingly.
Seeds of GM crops are relatively higher in cost, so the poor farmers have a hard time reaching them.
With biotechnology, there are some fear of health risks that might not be know now and developed later. This would really be devastating as the use Gm crops increasing throughout the world
Conclusion
The benefits f biotechnology over weigh the downside in today's date. Since, it is really important to increase the production of food to meet the needs of growing population. While, the safety of the GM crops is tested fist by USDA, FDA and EPA before any GM crop is given permission to grow and sell.

Work Cited:
Levetin, E and McMahon, K., 2006, Plant And Society,Fourth Edition,New York City, 524p.

Biotechnology in Rice production

A type of rice in made in Kansas that has a protein that produces human- immune system proteins in their seeds. This is the first crop that has been given okay bu agriculture department that contains is genetically engineered to contain human genes. The protein can be extracted and used in health foods and given to children to help with diarrhea. Three such types of rice have been produced, each supplied with a different gene and produce lactoferrin and lysozyme. This can be very helpful as the engineered rice proteins can relieve children from diarrhea. Studies showed that children recovered faster from diarrhea when they were given salty fluids with this protein in it. But, there are concerns with this engineered rice to as their are no long term studies done to see the side -effects on humans when it is consumed. One concern is that the proteins that are being produced in rice might be allergens for some people.There is also a concern that the genetically seeds of engineered rice might migrate to other field crops and then come into th food that they are not supposed to be in. This way the consumers might be scared that genetically engineered crops are getting mixed with usual crops. People allergic to th proteins found in genetically engineered rice would accidentally consume the protein, this can have serious consequences. These genetically altered rice are produced in Ventria and Kansas.
Work cited:http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/01/AR2007030101495.html

green revolution

Yes, technology is very important to increase food production, but I think that it will only increase the quantity while decreasing the quality of the food. I value quality instead of quality, but then we do need a lot of quantity of food to feed the whole world.
Technology is very important t increase the food supply because the new machines have made it possible to plant and cut the crops faster. The chemical fertilizers have made it possible to increase the soil's ability to nourish plants artificially. New technology has made it possible to breed new diseases-resistant, high yielding crops and thus enabling us to increase food production. Without new technologies, it used to take a lot of time to plant the crops by hand then pick them by hand. And the new disease-resistant crops also help increase the food production as otherwise some of the crops might get damaged by the disease. Therefore, new technologies are very important in increasing the quantity of the food.

Population growth

In my opinion, Mathus is correct to some extent but not completely. I agree with Mathus that the population will continue to increase if left unchecked;but, I don't think population growth could increase to an extent that enough food will not be available for everyone. Scientists are trying to find new breeds of crops that will be fast growing and have heavy yields that would be able to feed the increasing population. I think humans are capable enough to provide food for the grwoing population by also increasing their crop productivity.
I think China's one child policy is viable in the sense that it keeps a check on the population; but, it is also has a drawback because people opt for abortion if the gender of the child is not what they want it to be. If such a law is to be created then there should also be a law against abortion, then only this aw can be viable and not cruel.
In my opinion, one way to control the population is to create awareness. People should be educated that they should not have more children that they can feed easily. They should be educated about the consequences that if they have more children that the can feed, then the quality of life would not even be low but in developing countries they might not be even able to feed them. It is not only tough for the parent of too many children with not enough sources, but it is also cruel for the children. Spreading knowledge about consequences of more children than sources can help people realize and may be think about controlling population.

Cattle Grazing

I think that there is no harm in allowing cows to graze in publicly owned land unless they are destroying flowers or ornamental plants. There is no harm in letting them graze in a field , it is healthier for the cows to move around freely and graze. As long as the livestock's owners maintain the area I think it is okay to let them graze their cows in publicly owned fields. Grazing is also beneficial for the growth of field. The fecal material and the urine also acts as fertilizers for the soil. While the trampling of the ground by cows help regulate air in soil and allows water to go into the soil easily as the soil get loosened.
I don't think that fees should be raised for private land leases because then the rancher might not prefer to graze the cows and just keep them in an artificial environment. They need a natural environment to grow properly. They are already injected with hormones and steroids and on top of that ranchers should not be discouraged of bringing their cows to graze in fields.
http://www.nativehabitat.org/grazing.html
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CEFD9163CF931A2575AC0A965958260