For my second draft of my I-search Paper I made some major revisions. The first step was deleting any unnecessary text such as my paragraph about Blackwater. Me and my professor discussed it being too off topic and that it would be best to just take it out. The next step was retyping my thesis statement to something less wordy and more explanatory of the paper's focus. The final step was switching around my body paragraphs so it flowed smoother and getting all my sources in order and lastly i decided to change my conclusion to a call-to-action.
Nick Paschall
Sabatino Mangini
English Comp 1
4/16/2015
I-Search Paper Proposal:
For my last assignment in my English Composition class I am typing an I-Search Paper. The assignment requires us to choose a controversial or debatable topic, research the topic, pick a side, and ponder it. I have decided to do my I-Search paper about GMO’s. More specifically I will discuss the issues that surround GMO’s such as negative health effects and the public awareness like labeling GMO products. I did not have too much previous knowledge on the topic other than a little bit of information I had read online. Once I started to dig deeper into the topic I realized that it was something that I felt passionate about. The other interesting thing about my topic was all the different angles I could attack it at.
Initially my question was one of consumer advocacy, but as I kept digging deeper my research question and opinion on the topic began to change to one of a bigger scale. The issues surrounding GMO’s are so much deeper than the surface level issues that most people want to talk about. So I was left with a few questions: Why are the American people not allowed to know when GMO’s are in their food? Why do the heads of GMO companies have so much influence in the FDA and other government programs? And why is it that third-party companies are not allowed to run tests on the health effect issues of GMO’s?
Nick Paschall
Sabatino Mangini
English Comp 1
4/20/2015
I-Search Paper Process:
I started my research with a simple google search to find out about GMO’s and what they were all about. The first thing I immediately noticed was how many results were about avoiding GMO’s and five reasons why you should say no to GMO’s. Once I realized the immense amount of controversy surrounding GMO’s it made ask myself why? So I decided to go to Redddit.com and search the front page for “GMO’s” and the first hit I received was about Monsanto. This was the point when my heavy researching began. One article lead to another article and it went on and on until I was left with a massive amount of facts. I knew in the back of my head I still needed to find a more reliable source, so I began to search for scientific studies that had been done.
Once I gathered all my sources and information I realized that I had clearly picked side on the ongoing controversy about GMO’s. It genuinely made my angry, which was weird at first, but I decided to just start to through all my feeling and opinions on the paper. After about 30 minutes of typing on a Microsoft Word document I was left with a paper that resembled a grumpy old man bitching about what’s wrong with the world. I began to strip away at the things I did not need and I also started to support my opinions with all the facts that I had gathered from my sources. After about another hour of typing I was starting to feel a little more confident about my paper which no longer looked like an 80 year old man’s rant. I decided to take a break from the paper to get some fresh air, so I took my dog for a walk around the block and drank some cold ice water. Slowly but surely I added more details and more facts about Monsanto (which by the way gets automatically capitalized when I type it in Microsoft word. I am not sure why that bothers me so much, but it does. I really don’t like that company at all.) Once I had enough supporting details I sent my paper to my girlfriend, Steph, and my sister, Emily. Once they had sent their feedback to me I made a few more surface level corrections like run on sentences. The paper had really typed itself once I felt passionate enough about it. I am definitely going to make some more changes and corrections once my professor takes a look at it.
Nick Paschall
Dr. Mangini
English Comp 100
April 15, 2015
What Are We Really Eating?
How would you feel if I told you that in order to collect and inspect the corn that we eat the workers must wear a Hazmat suit? How is it possible that this corn is safe to eat, but you can’t even be around the corn without 100% protection from the chemicals they spray on them? More importantly, why do we the people not get the option of products like this corn labeled? This corn is called a genetically modified crop and is part of the GMO family that has taken over America. A GMO is a genetically modified organism. In simple terms a GMO is an organism, like a seed or a plant that has been altered with chemicals to grow a certain way. Now what if I told you that we don’t even have the option of knowing what products have GMO’s in them? I’m not here to argue that GMO’s are evil or should be illegal, but instead argue that we deserve the right to have all GMO food labeled so we know what we are eating. It is only right for multiple reasons. This is a major social and political issue involving consumer advocacy and the political corruption that has been caused due to major corporate influence and we need to stand up for GMO labelling because we deserve the same protection as other countries, a true democratic protection of the food industry, and finally because it is an American tradition to give the consumers what they want.
GMO’s have been around longer than most people realize. In fact not until just recently has the world of genetically engineered food received much attention. Since they were first brought to the public nearly 20 years ago genetically modified crops have seen a dramatic spike. GMO’s were introduced in hope that it would solve the hunger problems around the world, because they are quicker growing than natural crops. Well for one it definitely did not solve the hunger problem. Secondly, within the last couple of years there has been an ongoing battle between the GMO companies, such as Monsanto and DuPont, and the environmental, nutritional, and food health scientists debating if the effects are worth the convenience of genetically modified crops.
So who is behind all these GMO’s? Surely it has to be farmers in the country, right? That would be incorrect. In 1913 corn production was 100% farmer owned. 100 years later and corn is currently 95% corporation owned, and 90% GMO’s. Currently, Monsanto is the biggest GMO Company and has GMO’s all over the world (McClure). Monsanto was founded in 1901 and originally made saccharin (a chemical used as an artificial sweetener) (McClure). Then in the 1940’s Monsanto started making plastic, and chemicals used for plastic up until around the late 80’s when Monsanto made Round-Up (McClure). Round-Up was a commercial weed killer that became very popular in the US in the late 1980’s. “Monsanto was one of the first firms to take advantage of biotechnology in commercial farming. (McClure) Genetically modified crops were introduced by Monsanto in 1995-96. (McClure) Information on the recall of Aventis’ genetically engineered corn is provided.”(McClure) Monsanto eventually found itself producing “enhanced tomatoes” in the early 2000’s (McClure). Currently Monsanto is under constant attack from people all around the world. So why is it that a company who spends millions to advertise themselves as agriculture heroes are also receiving so much hate from around the world?
One major reason answers this. “Recent studies have escalated public concern and renewed demands that GM foods be labeled. Studies have linked genetically modified organisms (GMOs) to cancer, deterioration of liver and kidney function, stomach inflammation, and impaired embryonic development.” (Mother) So my question is this: If Monsanto keeps claiming that its products are no different than its non GMO counterparts why is it that they are willing to spend 50 million dollars in advertisements to just prevent a simple little label saying “made with GMO’s”. People would obviously still buy them no matter what.
In America we have always expected and demanded that our food be labeled to let us know what is in it, and according to the Consumer Reports National Research Center more than 90% of the population wants GMOs to be labelled. Even if it is unhealthy we still want to know what we are putting in our bodies. People will always buy the product no matter what. For example, in just about all diet soda we drink there is aspartame, but aspartame has been confirmed to be a terrible neurotoxin to the human brain and is recognized as an awful carcinogen (Alison White). Every day though, you see people buying, drinking, and selling diet soda.
“We require that our orange juice reveal if it is made directly from oranges or from concentrate. We require labels to tell us if salt, sugar, MSG, artificial flavors or colors, vitamins, or other ingredients have been added. We require meat labels to reveal when it has been pumped with up to a 12 percent saltwater ‘flavor solution.’ And we require milk to indicate whether it is skim, 1 percent fat, 2 percent fat or whole” (Mother).
GM foods should be no different. If the people want it then the people should get it. That is what this country was founded on “for the people by the people of the people.” It’s not a matter of whether it is unhealthy for you or not, but the fact that we deserve to have the choice between the two. As it turns out some other places around the world are going through the same thing.
At the end of May of 2014 it is estimated around 2 million protesters attended anti-Monsanto rallies in more than 50 countries around the world. There is one thing that doesn’t add up to me. About a decade ago in 2003, Monsanto had actually supported labeling GMO products in Europe. “This included an entire add campaign that cost millions of dollars to run. More than fifteen countries have implemented labeling requirements for genetically modified (GM) foods, including unlikely candidates such as Russia.”(Dr. Carter and Guillaume) So why is it that in America land of the free we are still fighting for this choice? If Monsanto just agreed to label their products then they wouldn’t even have a problem. In other countries around the world people are still buying the products even though have GMO’s. In fact according to The Center for Food Safety, Currently, 64 countries around the world require labeling of genetically modified foods. Unlike most other developed countries – such as 28 nations in the European Union, Japan, Australia, Brazil, Russia and even China – the U.S. has no laws requiring labeling of genetically modified foods. This leaves another question. Why has this not already happened in America? Monsanto is just making things more difficult for themselves. People should not trust a company that is acting so suspiciously.
There have been numerous bills that have been voted on about labeling GMO products. It seems like it would be common sense to let the citizens know what they are eating, but unfortunately nothing has been successful at the federal level just yet. There is hope though, In May of 2014, Vermont became the first state in the country to pass a bill requiring labeling of all foods produced that use these genetically modified organisms. There is a catch though, Obama signed the “Monsanto Protection Act”. The Monsanto Protection act was basically written by Monsanto and makes them immune to the federal courts. The bill was apparently written by Senator Roy Blunt in collusion with Monsanto, with them helping to decide the exact language of the document. As it turns out “The Center for Responsive Politics notes that Senator Blunt received $64,250 from Monsanto to go towards his campaign committee between 2008 and 2012. The Money Monocle website adds that Blunt has been the largest Republican Party recipient of Monsanto funding as of late.” So if that doesn’t make the average citizen stop and think I don’t know what will. The bill states that even if future research shows that GMOs or GE seeds cause significant health problems, cancer, etc., anything, that the federal courts no longer have any power to stop their spread, use, or sales. It gets even better though. President Obama at one point was a shining beacon of hope towards GMO labeled products “…We’ll let folks know whether their food has been genetically modified because Americans should know what they’re buying” Obama said this at the beginning of his second campaign run for office. Well it looks like he went and did the complete opposite of that. GMO’s need to be labeled for the American public, for our safety, our health, the health of children and for the sake of doing the right thing.
Between Monsanto paying the senators that wrote their own bill of protection, Obama lying to the American public about GMO labeling, and the health studies that are surfacing about Monsanto I think it is time we finally come together as a whole and make a stance for what is right. This country was founded on the beliefs of freedom yet we don’t even have the freedom to choose what chemicals we put in our bodies. The day that the masses realize what is actually going on is the day change might finally occur, but until that day we can only do so much to stop it. So I encourage you the reader to not just sit idly by and watch these multibillion dollar companies take away our freedoms. I encourage you to write to your local government, from the mayor to your senator, we need to make this an important issue.
Works Cited
Joël Spiroux de Vendômois, et al. "Answers to Critics: Why There Is A Long Term Toxicity Due To A Roundup-Tolerant Genetically Modified Maize And To A Roundup Herbicide." Food & Chemical Toxicology 53. (2013)
Mclure, Jason. "Background." CQ Researcher 22.30 (2012): 726-732.
Beckrich, Amanda. "Genetically Modified Crops." Science Teacher 80.4 (2013)
"July 4Th March For GMO Labeling." Better Nutrition 75.7 (2013): 10. Why To Support Labeling GM Foods." Mother Earth News 259 (2013)
Ayre, James. "Monsanto Protection Act Signed By Obama, GMO Bill Written By Monsanto Itself Signed Into Law." Planetsave.com. N.p., 30 Mar. 2013. Web. 14 Apr. 2015.
"Labeling Around the World | Just Label It." Labeling Around the World | Just Label It. N.p., 2015. Web. 04 May 2015
Sabatino Mangini
English Comp 1
4/16/2015
I-Search Paper Proposal:
For my last assignment in my English Composition class I am typing an I-Search Paper. The assignment requires us to choose a controversial or debatable topic, research the topic, pick a side, and ponder it. I have decided to do my I-Search paper about GMO’s. More specifically I will discuss the issues that surround GMO’s such as negative health effects and the public awareness like labeling GMO products. I did not have too much previous knowledge on the topic other than a little bit of information I had read online. Once I started to dig deeper into the topic I realized that it was something that I felt passionate about. The other interesting thing about my topic was all the different angles I could attack it at.
Initially my question was one of consumer advocacy, but as I kept digging deeper my research question and opinion on the topic began to change to one of a bigger scale. The issues surrounding GMO’s are so much deeper than the surface level issues that most people want to talk about. So I was left with a few questions: Why are the American people not allowed to know when GMO’s are in their food? Why do the heads of GMO companies have so much influence in the FDA and other government programs? And why is it that third-party companies are not allowed to run tests on the health effect issues of GMO’s?
Nick Paschall
Sabatino Mangini
English Comp 1
4/20/2015
I-Search Paper Process:
I started my research with a simple google search to find out about GMO’s and what they were all about. The first thing I immediately noticed was how many results were about avoiding GMO’s and five reasons why you should say no to GMO’s. Once I realized the immense amount of controversy surrounding GMO’s it made ask myself why? So I decided to go to Redddit.com and search the front page for “GMO’s” and the first hit I received was about Monsanto. This was the point when my heavy researching began. One article lead to another article and it went on and on until I was left with a massive amount of facts. I knew in the back of my head I still needed to find a more reliable source, so I began to search for scientific studies that had been done.
Once I gathered all my sources and information I realized that I had clearly picked side on the ongoing controversy about GMO’s. It genuinely made my angry, which was weird at first, but I decided to just start to through all my feeling and opinions on the paper. After about 30 minutes of typing on a Microsoft Word document I was left with a paper that resembled a grumpy old man bitching about what’s wrong with the world. I began to strip away at the things I did not need and I also started to support my opinions with all the facts that I had gathered from my sources. After about another hour of typing I was starting to feel a little more confident about my paper which no longer looked like an 80 year old man’s rant. I decided to take a break from the paper to get some fresh air, so I took my dog for a walk around the block and drank some cold ice water. Slowly but surely I added more details and more facts about Monsanto (which by the way gets automatically capitalized when I type it in Microsoft word. I am not sure why that bothers me so much, but it does. I really don’t like that company at all.) Once I had enough supporting details I sent my paper to my girlfriend, Steph, and my sister, Emily. Once they had sent their feedback to me I made a few more surface level corrections like run on sentences. The paper had really typed itself once I felt passionate enough about it. I am definitely going to make some more changes and corrections once my professor takes a look at it.
Nick Paschall
Dr. Mangini
English Comp 100
April 15, 2015
What Are We Really Eating?
How would you feel if I told you that in order to collect and inspect the corn that we eat the workers must wear a Hazmat suit? How is it possible that this corn is safe to eat, but you can’t even be around the corn without 100% protection from the chemicals they spray on them? More importantly, why do we the people not get the option of products like this corn labeled? This corn is called a genetically modified crop and is part of the GMO family that has taken over America. A GMO is a genetically modified organism. In simple terms a GMO is an organism, like a seed or a plant that has been altered with chemicals to grow a certain way. Now what if I told you that we don’t even have the option of knowing what products have GMO’s in them? I’m not here to argue that GMO’s are evil or should be illegal, but instead argue that we deserve the right to have all GMO food labeled so we know what we are eating. It is only right for multiple reasons. This is a major social and political issue involving consumer advocacy and the political corruption that has been caused due to major corporate influence and we need to stand up for GMO labelling because we deserve the same protection as other countries, a true democratic protection of the food industry, and finally because it is an American tradition to give the consumers what they want.
GMO’s have been around longer than most people realize. In fact not until just recently has the world of genetically engineered food received much attention. Since they were first brought to the public nearly 20 years ago genetically modified crops have seen a dramatic spike. GMO’s were introduced in hope that it would solve the hunger problems around the world, because they are quicker growing than natural crops. Well for one it definitely did not solve the hunger problem. Secondly, within the last couple of years there has been an ongoing battle between the GMO companies, such as Monsanto and DuPont, and the environmental, nutritional, and food health scientists debating if the effects are worth the convenience of genetically modified crops.
So who is behind all these GMO’s? Surely it has to be farmers in the country, right? That would be incorrect. In 1913 corn production was 100% farmer owned. 100 years later and corn is currently 95% corporation owned, and 90% GMO’s. Currently, Monsanto is the biggest GMO Company and has GMO’s all over the world (McClure). Monsanto was founded in 1901 and originally made saccharin (a chemical used as an artificial sweetener) (McClure). Then in the 1940’s Monsanto started making plastic, and chemicals used for plastic up until around the late 80’s when Monsanto made Round-Up (McClure). Round-Up was a commercial weed killer that became very popular in the US in the late 1980’s. “Monsanto was one of the first firms to take advantage of biotechnology in commercial farming. (McClure) Genetically modified crops were introduced by Monsanto in 1995-96. (McClure) Information on the recall of Aventis’ genetically engineered corn is provided.”(McClure) Monsanto eventually found itself producing “enhanced tomatoes” in the early 2000’s (McClure). Currently Monsanto is under constant attack from people all around the world. So why is it that a company who spends millions to advertise themselves as agriculture heroes are also receiving so much hate from around the world?
One major reason answers this. “Recent studies have escalated public concern and renewed demands that GM foods be labeled. Studies have linked genetically modified organisms (GMOs) to cancer, deterioration of liver and kidney function, stomach inflammation, and impaired embryonic development.” (Mother) So my question is this: If Monsanto keeps claiming that its products are no different than its non GMO counterparts why is it that they are willing to spend 50 million dollars in advertisements to just prevent a simple little label saying “made with GMO’s”. People would obviously still buy them no matter what.
In America we have always expected and demanded that our food be labeled to let us know what is in it, and according to the Consumer Reports National Research Center more than 90% of the population wants GMOs to be labelled. Even if it is unhealthy we still want to know what we are putting in our bodies. People will always buy the product no matter what. For example, in just about all diet soda we drink there is aspartame, but aspartame has been confirmed to be a terrible neurotoxin to the human brain and is recognized as an awful carcinogen (Alison White). Every day though, you see people buying, drinking, and selling diet soda.
“We require that our orange juice reveal if it is made directly from oranges or from concentrate. We require labels to tell us if salt, sugar, MSG, artificial flavors or colors, vitamins, or other ingredients have been added. We require meat labels to reveal when it has been pumped with up to a 12 percent saltwater ‘flavor solution.’ And we require milk to indicate whether it is skim, 1 percent fat, 2 percent fat or whole” (Mother).
GM foods should be no different. If the people want it then the people should get it. That is what this country was founded on “for the people by the people of the people.” It’s not a matter of whether it is unhealthy for you or not, but the fact that we deserve to have the choice between the two. As it turns out some other places around the world are going through the same thing.
At the end of May of 2014 it is estimated around 2 million protesters attended anti-Monsanto rallies in more than 50 countries around the world. There is one thing that doesn’t add up to me. About a decade ago in 2003, Monsanto had actually supported labeling GMO products in Europe. “This included an entire add campaign that cost millions of dollars to run. More than fifteen countries have implemented labeling requirements for genetically modified (GM) foods, including unlikely candidates such as Russia.”(Dr. Carter and Guillaume) So why is it that in America land of the free we are still fighting for this choice? If Monsanto just agreed to label their products then they wouldn’t even have a problem. In other countries around the world people are still buying the products even though have GMO’s. In fact according to The Center for Food Safety, Currently, 64 countries around the world require labeling of genetically modified foods. Unlike most other developed countries – such as 28 nations in the European Union, Japan, Australia, Brazil, Russia and even China – the U.S. has no laws requiring labeling of genetically modified foods. This leaves another question. Why has this not already happened in America? Monsanto is just making things more difficult for themselves. People should not trust a company that is acting so suspiciously.
There have been numerous bills that have been voted on about labeling GMO products. It seems like it would be common sense to let the citizens know what they are eating, but unfortunately nothing has been successful at the federal level just yet. There is hope though, In May of 2014, Vermont became the first state in the country to pass a bill requiring labeling of all foods produced that use these genetically modified organisms. There is a catch though, Obama signed the “Monsanto Protection Act”. The Monsanto Protection act was basically written by Monsanto and makes them immune to the federal courts. The bill was apparently written by Senator Roy Blunt in collusion with Monsanto, with them helping to decide the exact language of the document. As it turns out “The Center for Responsive Politics notes that Senator Blunt received $64,250 from Monsanto to go towards his campaign committee between 2008 and 2012. The Money Monocle website adds that Blunt has been the largest Republican Party recipient of Monsanto funding as of late.” So if that doesn’t make the average citizen stop and think I don’t know what will. The bill states that even if future research shows that GMOs or GE seeds cause significant health problems, cancer, etc., anything, that the federal courts no longer have any power to stop their spread, use, or sales. It gets even better though. President Obama at one point was a shining beacon of hope towards GMO labeled products “…We’ll let folks know whether their food has been genetically modified because Americans should know what they’re buying” Obama said this at the beginning of his second campaign run for office. Well it looks like he went and did the complete opposite of that. GMO’s need to be labeled for the American public, for our safety, our health, the health of children and for the sake of doing the right thing.
Between Monsanto paying the senators that wrote their own bill of protection, Obama lying to the American public about GMO labeling, and the health studies that are surfacing about Monsanto I think it is time we finally come together as a whole and make a stance for what is right. This country was founded on the beliefs of freedom yet we don’t even have the freedom to choose what chemicals we put in our bodies. The day that the masses realize what is actually going on is the day change might finally occur, but until that day we can only do so much to stop it. So I encourage you the reader to not just sit idly by and watch these multibillion dollar companies take away our freedoms. I encourage you to write to your local government, from the mayor to your senator, we need to make this an important issue.
Works Cited
Joël Spiroux de Vendômois, et al. "Answers to Critics: Why There Is A Long Term Toxicity Due To A Roundup-Tolerant Genetically Modified Maize And To A Roundup Herbicide." Food & Chemical Toxicology 53. (2013)
Mclure, Jason. "Background." CQ Researcher 22.30 (2012): 726-732.
Beckrich, Amanda. "Genetically Modified Crops." Science Teacher 80.4 (2013)
"July 4Th March For GMO Labeling." Better Nutrition 75.7 (2013): 10. Why To Support Labeling GM Foods." Mother Earth News 259 (2013)
Ayre, James. "Monsanto Protection Act Signed By Obama, GMO Bill Written By Monsanto Itself Signed Into Law." Planetsave.com. N.p., 30 Mar. 2013. Web. 14 Apr. 2015.
"Labeling Around the World | Just Label It." Labeling Around the World | Just Label It. N.p., 2015. Web. 04 May 2015