Bees are disappearing... In today's society it is quite rare for a grocery store to offer purely organic foods since almost 60-70% of all processed foods contain genetically modified ingredients. This would especially include anything containing the infamous high fructose corn syrup as corn or corn is the most heavily genetically modified product in the world. When corn or other products are genetically modified, they are declared GMO which stands for “Genetically Modified Organism”. Some currently believe that GMO corn is directly linked to the death of nearly 37 million bees in Canada, after all of these insects died after fields of GMO corn were planted. However, correlation is not the same as causation. This GMO corn is sprayed with two common pesticides that are actually illegal in much of Europe, called Imidacloprid and Clothianidin. Both are used to prevent crops from being damaged or eaten by insects, which could result in mass losses for large companies and all their farmers. These insecticides are known to penetrate the pollen and nectar of plants which in turn can affect beneficial insects, particularly bees. Each group of journalists or environmental journalists tends to give their own interpretation of what exactly is happening and what is to blame, but in reality no one knows for sure. Articles suggest that there may be an ongoing link between GMO corn and the death of all bees but, contrary to these ideas, corn may actually be more indirectly linked to these deaths through the use of certain pesticides and insecticides on it. it. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay There are several sources that, of course, claim that genetically modified foods are not harmful and are as safe as eating traditionally grown ones. Katherine Tallmadge, a registered dietitian, recently wrote an article for the LiveScience.com website that shares opinions on GMO crops and products from several perspectives. The US government considers the products no different than they would if they were grown organically and subjects them both to the same tests regarding the short-term safety of consuming the products. He also provided an FDA citation stating that “The foods are generally as nutritious as foods from comparable traditionally grown plants… [They] were no more likely to cause an allergic or toxic reaction than foods from cultivated plants traditionally." It provides perspective on how the government views this new era of GMOs. However, there are certainly many conflicting views on how GMOs are harming the environment and, in the long term, all those who consume such products containing GMO products. In recent years, soybeans and corn have become crop giants, occupying so much of the cultivated acreage in the United States that they are supplanting the variety and diversity of the environment. According to Tallmadge, we should design a different agricultural system, with a much wider variety of plants and products, "that uses fewer resources, is more sustainable in the long term and is healthier for the planet and people". Soybean oil is the main reason why soybeans are in such high demand among farmers. There's hardly a kitchen in the world you can walk into that doesn't have anything that contains soybean oil, which is not a good thing because soybean oil contains omega-6 fatty acids. These acidsFats are necessary for the human body, but soybean oil provides an immense amount of them that will cause more harm than good in the long run. So what does this have to do with being genetically modified? All, because since soybeans already grow quite quickly compared to most agricultural products, with the help of genetic modification they grow even faster and in much larger masses, leading to overuse in foods. Both of these kingpins of the crop are sprayed with pesticides and insecticides to protect farmers' investments at the behest of big companies. Since these two are taking up such a large amount of acreage in the United States, this offers a much greater chance of bees coming into contact with pesticides leading to their eventual death. The fact that products are genetically modified seems increasingly harmless as a direct suspicion of what is killing the bees, but in reality it may be doing so indirectly. Since these crops have so many universal uses in the world, they are in extremely high demand, so in response farmers all over the United States are primarily growing these crops, leading to the use of insecticides which could more likely be the real cause behind the disappearance of bees. Other countries realize this and have taken action against what one of Organic Health's articles stated: "After the record death of honeybees in the United Kingdom, the European Union banned numerous pesticides, including neonicotinoid pesticides." But why doesn't the United States do the same? After all, “US scientists found 121 different pesticides in samples of bees, wax and pollen, lending credence to the idea that pesticides are a key problem.” (OrganicHealth.co) This further proves that there are multiple factors that need to be considered before drawing conclusions about what exactly caused the death of all these innocent bees. The 37 million bees in Canada that died recently in October of this year were not the first to die under the alleged suspicion of GMO crops and for this reason“The Ontario Beekeeper's Association, which claims that Ontario has seen a 35% decline in honey bees in the last two years, recently started a petition calling for a provincial ban on neonicotinoids.” (Snopes.com) All of these recent bans and hoped-for insecticide bans lend support to environmentalists and journalists by allowing them to avoid making many mistakes in their reporting. Some articles such as the one published by OrganicHealth.co can be a bit misleading as they initially claim in the title that the death of bees is attributable to the fact that these plants are genetically modified, but even in that article it is highlighted as a variety The fault could be pesticides and insecticides. Many of these articles however use skeptical language with a rather curious juxtaposition when addressing the audience using words like "seems" or "may", allowing plenty of leeway as to what or who the real culprit might be, and can be seen here : “What appears to be deadly to bees is that neonicotinoid pesticides coat corn seeds and, with the use of new air seeders, blow pesticide dust into the air once planted.” (EatLocalGrown.com) So when the time comes and theories finally turn into facts, journalists can fall back on these words, making their articles more valid sources, which isn't necessarily a bad thing because that means they weren't prematurely claiming their findings as fact before they were even proven. Another big concern that was mentioned earlier is whether.