Lifelong Consumption of Plant-Based GM Foods: Is It Safe?

Public Perception Of The Needs And Benefits Of Gm Plants

The need to achieve food security has led to the intensification of agriculture, which naturally interferes with natural ecological cycles. The agricultural sector contributes to the emission of environmentally dangerous chemicals like ammonia, methane, and nitrates (Zhu et al., 2006). GM plants held under cultivation has long been considered as a sustainable alternative to attain food self-sufficiency and sovereignty albeit controversial. The three pathways by which GM crops contribute to food security include increasing food production and availability, influencing food safety and quality as well as enhancing the economic and social situation of farmers, thereby influencing food accessibility (Qaim and Kouser, 2013). Hunger is a major threat to humanity and it affects an estimated more than 1 billion people many of whom live in developing countries (Delaney, 2015; Hefferon, 2016). It remains our moral obligation to feed the hungry billions. To this end, the GM crop movement has overseen enormous good but also presented significant adverse consequences and prompted controversies (Schlett and Beke, 2015).