Genetically Modified Food

In the traditional cross-breeding process, two varieties of, say, tomatoes might be crossed for a more robust fruit. But today’s technology inserts out-of-species genes, often from bacteria and viruses, into the DNA of plants like corn, soybean, cotton, and canola, introducing genetic matter into our food that’s never been there before. The process allows conventional growers to douse even larger amounts of poisonous herbicides onto the modified plants without killing the crop. That introduces more chemicals into the groundwater and waterways near the farm, but it also increases the amount of chemical residue on the foods. Some crops have even been modified so the plant produces its own pesticide.