GMOs, Vaccines, Bioengineering, and the Future of What it Means to Be Organic?

Open discussion on Vaccines, Food and Medicine, GMOs, and Organic future?

I’ve got some practical and philosophical curiosities on my mind and am looking for folks to share their thoughts. Most folks I believe have some belief in Organic Principles. One of those major principles is the exclusion of GMOs or synthetic substances in favor of natural or environmental controls first. Or perhaps it’s a firmly drawn line in the sand depending on your certification or stance on the matter?

In 2019 there was an article shared regarding the USDA and watering down of Organic Certification Standards. Titled a GMO Friendly USDA. https://www.cornucopia.org/2019/07/gmo-usda-ogling-organic/

And as of Jan 1, 2022, the USDA has rebranded GMO and GE into BioEngineered(BE). 

https://www.ams.usda.gov/resources/industry-fact-sheet-national-bioengineered-food-disclosure-standard

I feel like culturally BioEngineered foods and medicine are growing, and likely to become more commonplace over the next several years and decades.

3 examples for your own amusement and consideration.  

1. Just recently doctors were able to transplant a GE pig’s heart for the first time into a human.

https://www.npr.org/2022/01/10/1071906223/doctors-transplant-genetically-modified-pig-heart

And for further rabbit holing:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5617878/

https://hackaday.com/2021/01/28/swine-of-the-times-pig-to-human-organ-transplants-on-track-for-2021/

2. Lab cultured meats are coming.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-01-10/fda-weighs-approval-of-lab-grown-meat-sales-in-2022

https://peterattiamd.com/is-lab-grown-meat-the-meat-of-the-future/

3. Finally, and obviously, Covid vaccines have ushered in a whole new wave of GE acceptance under the banner of “safety”. 

“Trust the Science”

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8597982/

https://allianceforscience.cornell.edu/blog/2020/12/yes-some-covid-vaccines-use-genetic-engineering-get-over-it/

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/science/covid-19-vaccines-have-weakened-the-anti-gmo-movement-1.4594120

So what do you think? Are customers going to care about GMO’s in the coming years and decades?

Will future farmers and consumers not bat an eye at injecting BE compounds into their bodies, yet split hairs over how their apples were grown?

Will the Organic standards need to change, or will it still have relevance as a unique signifier in the market?

Will Big Pharma and Big AG merge in solidarity and scale with the USDA and FDA beyond what we could ever imagine possible?  

Just as Bi Ag in cooperation with the Gov are creating seed monopolies, are we seeing the same things play out in the medical industry? 

I think there will always be a segment of the population that gravitates towards “natural” processes, but our civilization the world over is moving at accelerated rates. What’s the norm today won’t be for our kids and grandkids. Hell, I never had cellphones growing up, and look at us now….

Also, I’m not concerned about the actual state of affairs per se, as much as what things may look like down the road based on our decisions we make today. In 5 or so years when the pandemic is finally over, will people even be concerned about GMO and GE? Or will it be a part of life? And what does that mean for the future or Organic?

Let me know what you think! It’s all good. I’m just curious to see how other folks view our future.

Thanks

Randy