What are the benefits of GMO foods? What are their risks? Should GMO foods be labeled? How healthy are GMO foods for humans? The more that the consumers know about GMO foods the more questions are asked. What exactly are GMO foods? GMO foods are crops that have their DNA modified to resist certain diseases, bugs, weather, inhabitable soil conditions, and other problems that could hinder the supply of food. To gain knowledge on these questions I gathered the following annotated bibliography and research reflection. 

Aschbrenner, Joel. Eller, Donnelle. "GMO discussion shows sharply opposing views" 	DesMoinesRegister.com. 15 October 2013. Web. 19 October 2013.

This article reports on a discussion among farmers, researchers, and others who work in 	the industry. The debate brought up different arguments such as: there is no proof that 	GMO foods are bad for peoples' health, there is less land erosion from it,less pesticide 	use, less diversity within plants, among others.  One participant, Ruth MacDonald, said 	that GMO foods are safe for consumers. She leads the food science and human nutrition at Iowa State University. The farmers, who plant the genetically modified crops, lashed back and said their pesticide use is more frequent now compared to a couple years ago. The large amount of pesticide use is costing them thousands of dollars. The issue of labeling came up later in the conversation. This would be a reliable source because many of the people involved give first hand accounts. This leads credibility and value of the 	stakeholders' stories. This article is good collection of arguments that are made on this issue and can be used in the future to argue different points of view.

Bartolotto, Carole. "Why Genetically Modified Foods Should Be Labeled." Dick and Sharon's 	LA Progressive. 7 September 2012. Web. 19 October 2013.

Bartolotto says that GMO foods should be labeled because we do not know their full effects on humans. The least that these companies can do is label products that contain GMO foods. Bartolotto has a bias for no GMO foods and does not present arguments for GMO foods. She even says that the companies are greedy and power hungry so they spend millions of dollars to avoid labeling. Although she has a bias toward labeling GMO foods this article is reliable because she provides statistics that I found in other sources. She has a masters degree in exercise physiology and has been working in the diet field for over twenty years.

Bech-Larson, Tino. Grunert, Klaus G. Lahteenmaki, Liisa. "Attitudes Towards the Use of GMOs 	in Food Production and Their Impact on Buying Intention: The Role of Positive Sensory 	Experience." Agribusiness. 20.1 (2004): 95-107. Biological & Agricultural Index Plus 	Web. 19 October 2013.

This academic article reports on an experiment in which researchers chose a sample of 	people from four countries, in the European Union, and the participants tasted different cheeses. This experiment was don in the European Union because people in those countries are skeptical of GMO foods. The researchers then asked the participants if they thought the cheese was tasteful. The experimental group had a positive experience tasting the cheeses. This is a reliable journal because I found it on a database through the library system. Also, the authors work within this field. The in text citations inform the reader where they can go to find out more about the subject. There is more accuracy with this article than with others I have found because the results are posted within the journal. This is useful to see how people react to eating a GMO food that is tasteful. 

Eng, Monica. "GMO supporter tells food industry meeting in Chicago to stop opposing GMO 	labeling" wbez.org. 16 October 2013. Web. 19 October 2013.

This article features a strong supporter of GMO foods, Mark Lynas, who supports GMO labeling. Lynas had a presentation that many agricultural companies attended and have taken time to think about what he had to say. The main argument is for these large companies to be more transparent to the consumer by labeling the food that contain GMOs. This article has many quotes from these agricultural companies that prove it's authority to the audience. Eng does show that those who are quoted are pro GMO foods, but against GMO labeling. Lynas is a mixture of pro GMO foods and Pro GMO labeling. This is an interesting article that gives this issue a different point of view. The article is very useful for explaining other thoughts on GMO foods. This article is credible because Eng gives background information about Lynas. She only reports what happened at the presentation she does not put her opinion into this article.

Food Inc. Dir. Robert Kenner. Perf. Eric Schlosser. Magnolia Home Entertianment, 2009. DVD.

Food Inc. is a documentary about the food industry in the United States. Kenner dives deep into the darkness that the food industry puts the consumer in. He shines a light on 	how they raise meet, poultry, and pork. A good portion of Food Inc. focuses on the meat production and packing industry. Later Kenner moves into the GMO crops. He gives a history lesson on Monsanto, the chemical company that first produced GMO seeds. He interviews many farmers about Monsanto and what precautions the company takes to prevent farmers from saving the seeds from their last crop. At the end of the documentary dives into the argument of labeling and how the large companies want to prevent it. This is an empowering film for the consumer and tells the consumer that they can do something about it. The documentary is very detailed and contains a couple of case 	studies, interviews, history, and statistics for credibility. I will use this information in my essay to explain the industries power in the government and give statistics on GMO foods. 

Haslberger, Alexander G. "Monitoring and labeling for genetically modified products." Science. 	287.5452 (2000): 431-432. Biological & Agricultural Index Plus Web. 19 October 2013.

This academic journal is informing of the GMO food situation in other countries. Many of them have legislation put in place to regulate GMO foods. Many countries label the foods that contain GMOs and some countries refuse to accept them from the United States. This is causing many issues with exports from the United States. Haslberger gives information from the European Union with references to make this academic journal reliable. There seems to be no bias here because Haslberger is informing the audience of GMOs in other countries compared to the United States. 

Leiser, Ken. "Hundreds protest outside Monsanto headquarters in St. Louis." stltoday.com: 
	St. Louis Post-Dispatch. 13 October 2013. Web. 19 October 2013. 

Leiser's the main objective in this article is to inform the audience of a protest that 	occurred outside of Monsanto's headquarters. More than five-hundred people showed up to make their grievances known. Monsanto is a chemical company that genetically modifies plants. In the crowd a farmer, Mark Brown, stepped out for a short interview. This article does not have a strong bias because it presents news from the protest. Leiser had more access to the protesters because Monsanto made a statement on Friday before the protest. This article provides information on Monsanto and on GMO crops. This is credible because Lesier is reporting the protest and not adding his opinion to the issue. This will be good to use as an example of how the stakeholders feel about the issue.
	
Round, Christopher. "One thing Everyone's Missing About GMO Foods" PolicyMic. 16 October 	2013. Web. 19 October 2013.

This article mentions the protest from the Leiser article and goes into more detail about 	the negatives and positive of GMO crops. Round makes two good points in his article; an 	argument against is that the diversity among plants will diminish, and the argument for is 	that the plants could become resistant to heat or inhospitable soil. A main part of the 	article focus on the diminishing genetic diversity and the complications of acres of crops 	wiped out by diseases. He Mentions at the end that GMOs are not all around terrible because we can feed the world's hungry with the amount of food that can be produced. This source is credible because Round is a graduate student pursuing a  masters in environmental science and political affairs. Though the article does not mention the labeling issue is can still be used for facts and examples.

Reflection Essay

I knew a little about GMO foods and wanted to learn more, but some people are not informed about GMOs at all. They don't realize that many of the foods they ingest are genetically modified. So with what little I knew I thought that it would be good to find out more on this topic.

I held the belief that GMO foods are bad for your health because the DNA in the pure crop is naturally that way. Also, people have been eating non-GMO foods for centuries. So, I formulated my research question to be: are GMO foods good for your health? However, because there is not definitive evidence that GMO foods diminish a person's health. I changed my question to: What are the arguments made for and against GMO food and what evidence is there to support either side? This question opened up several research opportunities.  

I went to Google first to see what I could find on the topic/issue. After finding several articles I moved on to the library's website for databases. There I found two articles under the Biological & Agricultural Index Plus database. These two articles provided me with good information, the only problem is that they are dated. The news articles that I found are very recent and are up to date on the new strides made by the government for stricter regulations on GMOs. I also used references from other articles to find out more information. This expanded my search to find out about companies that create GMO seeds and sell them to farmers. 

I later found a documentary named Food Inc. and added it to my sources. This opened my eyes to a who new world of the food industry. These companies intentionally leave consumers in the dark. The companies have so much power in the government and support government leaders. This turned the tables on just focusing on GMO foods to expanding to the food company's role in the government. I learned more about Monsanto, the chemical company that introduced the first GMO soybean. Food Inc. introduced more about the topic of GMOs and the labeling effort. This shaped my argument further and strengthened my beliefs on this topic.	

This issue has been developing for years because there is still no evidence that GMOs are safe. This topic is still too young for anyone to have proof that these GMOs are either good or bad for human health. My research informed me that GMOs are recent; they were not developed until the early 1990s. That is why there is still so much that is unknown.

I still have the same position as I did in the beginning, but I am glad that I chose this topic. It has opened my eyes to the arguments that are made. There is still so much more to learn about GMOs and what benefits or consequences can come from them. As time goes on more research will be done to obtain proof, but for now we must find out what arguments are made and decide for ourselves if the benefits out weigh the costs.


