In the United States, it is estimated today that somewhere between 70-80% of all processed foods contain or stem from genetically modified organisms (4). The United States, unlike its European counterparts, does not have to label or in any way differentiate organic foods from genetically modified products. Americans, and citizens of other countries outside the European Union like India, China, Canada, Argentina, and Austrailia, who have relaxed regulations regarding the labeling of genetically altered foods, are unknowingly consuming GM crops (5).

The introduction of genetically modified foods into our ecosytem have the potential to disrupt the all walks of life- from microbes and bacteria, to the well-being and health of humans, to the extinction of endangered species, to potentially ending world hunger (6).

The decisions nations make today concerning genetically modified foods will affect all aspects of their lives. Eighteen percent of Earth’s land mass is used for agricultural production, and because the size of our planet is not increasing nor decreasing, the fraction of land available for agriculture cannot increase substantially. Therefore, it is absolutely necessary that crops harvested from this land increase beyond current levels given that the human population coninues to grow. Agricultural areas are lost to the growth and development of cities and other non-agricultural uses, while consumer diets in developing countries continue to switch from plant-based to animal-based protein, which is a trend that requires a greater amount of crop-based feed (3).