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What's the issue with genetically altered stuff? Why do people prefer non-altered? Just curious, I might prefer non altered as well.
I will pick up some of these garden burgers and try them too on my trip.
The effects of ingesting genetically manipulated plants and animals has not been tested for long-term impact on human health. Genetically spliced material in GMOs does not remain stable, which means that the genetic properties of GMOs is constantly changing in unpredictable ways.
There have been examples of health impacts from use of GMOs. In Japan, a bacterium modified to synthesize amino acids did a wonderful job of pumping out the amino acids, but it also made a new one not found in nature. The new amino acid - manufactured in a food supplement powder - caused some deaths and a lot of irreversible mental and metabolic damage to hundreds of people until the product was recalled. Japan does not want GMO food. Australia does not want GMO food.
Beyond the direct risk associated with consuming GMOs, there is a certain risk of contamination of the existing varieties of landrace (pure heirloom) seed with GMO genetic material. This will pretty much guarantee the destruction of agricultural biodiversity.
The traits being bred into food plants are escaping to non-target species. The most famous example of this is milkweed that was cross pollinated by GMO corn and became toxic to Monarch Butterflies. Milkweed is the main foodsource of the endangered Monarch Butterfly. As a result of GMO infection, many of the butterflies have died.
Ten percent of biotechnology genes have already escaped into the natural world, infecting species they were not intended for. This could have cataclysmic effects on our ecological environment over extended periods of time.
Besides all that, GMOs are mainly pushed by the corporate behemoth Monsanto, which is pretty much 100% concentrated evil.