We already eat GMO foods

Re: GMOs are not for me

I find it interesting to read some of the letters that come into Castanet and some give me a chuckle. Then I read some that make me shake my head.

(The writer of the above referenced letter) Steve clearly missed a few minor details about GMO foods. I think it important to note that most of the foods we enjoy today (yes Steve, even the non-GMO ones) are already modified from their original natural state.

Here are a few examples:

Carrots were naturally purple until Dutch growers in the 16th century took the mutant strains of purple carrots and started selectively crossing the mutated white and yellow rooted carrots until we got the orange ones loaded with all kinds of goodness.

Bananas. They used to have large and hard seeds that would be kind of a mood killer in a banana split. So researchers and farmers cross bread them with other plants and now we have seedless bananas.

Oranges. A cross between as pomelo and a mandarin.

There are a whole host of other things we eat and don't think about that are technically speaking, genetically modified.

If it means that we can have higher crop yields in the worsening seasons to come, healthier foods and fewer issues with pests, I am all for tinkering with the food.

Perhaps one day we will unlock the key to growing a bacon tree and then humanity will truly be happy.

Don Wilson, Kelowna