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Iowa and the GMO Debate

Iowa and the GMO Debate. Could We, Should We?. Iowa’s Comparative Advantage. Great soil, productive growing season for grains, grasses Fairly well educated, hard-working, productive labor force Reasonable cost of living. Iowa’s Comparative Disadvantages. Centrally isolated

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Iowa and the GMO Debate

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  1. Iowa and the GMO Debate Could We, Should We?

  2. Iowa’s Comparative Advantage • Great soil, productive growing season for grains, grasses • Fairly well educated, hard-working, productive labor force • Reasonable cost of living

  3. Iowa’s Comparative Disadvantages • Centrally isolated • Amenity deficient • no mountains, oceans • no major league entertainment • Insufficient numbers of highly trained, creative people • Insufficient amounts of venture capital

  4. Iowa: The Protein State! • Gov. Vilsack says Iowa should take advantage of its strengths and become The Protein State, using GMOs to: • Increase the quantity of agricultural products • Increase the quality of agricultural products • Change the nature of agricultural products to produce • Pharmaceuticals • Body parts • More consistent products

  5. European Opposition to GMOs • Consumer movements in Europe are diametrically opposed to GMOs • They refuse to purchase GMO products • They seek national and European Union bans on GMO products

  6. What are GMOs? • Genetically Modified Organisms • Organisms that have had genetic material added and or removed so that they develop in a different way • An Iowa example: • Roundup Ready Soybeans

  7. The Optimistic View • GMOs will allow us to: • feed the world by producing more food more cheaply • improve the nutritional value of food • provide cheap and effective pharmaceuticals • reduce the use of chemicals on farm fields and in animals

  8. The Pessimistic View • Use of GMOs is inherently dangerous because we do not know the unintended consequences of releasing altered life forms into the environment • Necessary controls over GMOs will be too difficult to maintain, with producers lacking the commitment to the production standards required to keep GMOs from escaping into the broader environment

  9. What would Iowa have to do to become the Protein State? • A very geographical question • Locations of GMO production would have to be screened from the locations of other production, particularly organic production • Ownership issues would have to be resolved • Consumer issues would have to be resolved • Production regulations would have to be enforced

  10. If you think so . . . What about allergies, antibiotic resistance? What about effects on small farmers? What about risk to the environment? What about going against nature? What about the need to trust biotech firms? If you think not . . . What about vaccines, nutrition, medicines? What about cost savings to farmers, lower costs to buy? What about reduced use of chemicals on farm land? What about providing something Iowa could provide best? Should Iowa Emphasize GMOs?

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