Advantages

Genetically modified foods have both good and bad aspects to them. The main advantages of GM foods would have to be their ability to be grown and produced more efficiently. Most GM food is altered to be able to grow at a faster rate than usual providing communities with a large amount of food and eliminates a lot of the constant fear of food running out. They are typically cheaper to grow which allows for farmers in developing countries to easily grow and sell these crops helping small local communities. They are cheaper to grow because most of these crops are genetically modified to become toxic to pests and insects eliminating the need to use insecticides and pesticides which cost farmers a lot every year. The reduction of these chemicals on the crops is a major pro for the environment as they contribute to global warming and the greenhouse effect. The ability of GM foods to be able to be produced in areas the wouldn't normally grow means that countries could start to grow crops they would not normally be able to thus decreasing the greenhouse gasses emitted through importing and exporting.They are said to have a higher nutritional value than that of traditional crops and therefore customers opt to buy these products, along with their nutritional value they also taste better and have a better shelf life. A better shelf life allow consumers to buy there groceries less frequently which saves them some money. (5) There are some cases where certain crops have been specifically modified for specific regions. For example almost 500,000 people in Africa go blind each year from vitamin A deficiency. If the rice were to be genetically modified into having more vitamin A and replace the traditional rice it could help lower the amount of people going blind. (6)