Complaint and Project Connection (Finished)

     My complaint and protest centers around GMO agricultural products.  There are a large group of people out there who have attributed causes of harm, or bad health affects from GMO product consumption, which is totally exaggerated, and not based off of fact.  The purpose of my protest will  be to bring awareness on this matter in a scientific evidence-based manner, not through conjecture or hyperbole.  In addition, my end product will consist of a poster in the science building that brings scientific light to these myths.   The next image is from Harvard University, Harvard has vigorously studied the effects of GMO products on humans and animals. As their studies concluded, and other studies, there is no known harm from GMO agricultural products.  Many of the myths, as you can see below in the photo, are that the modified DNA in  plants can splice into a humans DNA, which is totally false.   Another myth is that DNA breaks down different and affects the body and organs in a harmful manner, when it fact it breaks down exactly the same as non-GMO agricultural products.  In essence, a GMO is exactly the same as a non-GMO on the cellular level when it comes to consumption and health.

Available at:  http://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2015/will-gmos-hurt-my-body/

     I like how the Guerrilla Girls make frequent use of posters with extreme things on them to catch the attention of the audience to their issues.  One example of this is a poster that targeted galleries that only had less than 10% of female artists, and thus the poster the Guerrilla Girls made was to expose and offset this deviation and sexism in galleries against women. Not only that most of the female art that is accepted into these galleries are nude women.  This inspired me to do a poster for my project based off of this example:

Guerrilla Girls page 35

According to Hank Green and other scientists on the SciShow, GMOs are not even dangerous.  In addition Hank Green claims, "95% of sugar beets, 88% of corn, and 94% of soybeans are GMO in USA, and contain traits like insect resistance and herbicide resistance."  Furthermore, 500,000 children go blind every year due to a vitamin A deficiency.  Scientists now have created a rice that is going to be available across the world that has a GMO for added Vitamin A.  Another fact, is that since the dawn of agriculture humans have been creating GMO plants.  By interfering and selecting genetic traits through selective breeding, such as size, shape, seedless, and other traits, humans have changed millions of plant species genetically.  Today a  more precise method is used to insert the genes through transgenic methods in the lab.  This is essentially does the same as selective breeding, but it is more efficient.  For the record, these plants such as corn, watermellon, peaches, and more are GMO products that we eat everyday.

Most agricultural products in the USA are GMO products.  

     According to Cornell University, anti-GMO activists were given a chance to present evidence and argument, even present why GMO agricultural products were not safe.  On a side note, scientists have been studying GMO's for decades and have not found one health concern.  The National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine reviewed all claims and found no evidence, but rather myths when it came to GMOs and concluded based off of evidence and fact that they "found no substantiated evidence that foods from GE crops were less safe than foods from non-GE crops."  The academy even reviewed claims that cancer increased in rats that were fed GMO products verse non-GMO products and according to the academy these were all just myths, no real evidence existed besides myths to back up this claim.  Even Jeffrey Smith a big anti-GMO activist was given 20 minutes in the convention to present his "claimed" evidence which again was nothing but myths without substantiated (Lynas, Mark. Cornell University Online).
     I feel like the Yes Men's example of extreme props to catch people's attention on corporate issues works.  I may draw a banana that looks like a penis or something similar to bring people to my sign, but I will find out as it will be in the school and I have to get it preapproved.  The Yes men do something similar with the Management Leisure Suit with Employee Visualization Appendage.  Maybe I can even have something coming out of the sign, but I will have to design a way to support this (The Interventionists pg. 103).
     GMOs have saved millions of peoples lives, and helped increase food supply, and cause the fatality of zero people on the planet.  According to the American Diabetes Foundation in 2015 79,535 people in the United States died from diabetes.    Activists are not always bad, but these GMO activists need to focus on stuff like sugar products, candy, and sodas that are killing Americans and not GMOs which are actually saving lives and caused no fatalities or ill-effects health-wise.  Enough is enough, GMOs are not bad and they are here to stay (American Diabetes Foundation, Online).

Sources

http://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2015/will-gmos-hurt-my-body/

http://diabetes.org/diabetes-basics/statistics/

The Interventionist.  Users' Manual for the Creative Disruption of Everyday Life.  Mass MoCA.  2004

Confessiosn of the Guerrilla Girls.  Harper Perennial.  1995

Lynas, Mark.  Cornell University.  https://allianceforscience.cornell.edu/blog/2018/09/no-scientific-evidence-risk-justify-gmo-regulations-researcher-finds

Green, Hank.  Why are GMOs Bad?  SciShow.    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sH4bi60alZU&t=143s.  Published July 10th 2015.