For related articles and more information, please visit OCA’s Genetic Engineering page, Millions Against Monsanto page, Health Issues page, and our Food Safety & Sustainability page.

    If you’ve ever taken a drive through the rural Midwest in the United States, you’ve likely had the pleasure of seeing acre upon acre of rolling farmlands planted with primarily corn and soybeans. On the surface it’s a calming sight, evoking images of a simpler, more wholesome time — but unfortunately if you dig beneath the surface the image is much darker, because most of these crops are far different from the ones our ancestors first planted generations ago.

 Today, upwards of 85 percent of U.S. corn crops contain a special gene added that allows them to produce an insecticide. This way, when bugs attempt to eat the corn they’re killed right away (specifically their stomach is split open) because the plant contains an invisible, built-in pesticide shield. The problem is, of course, that when you eat this corn you eat the built-in pesticide as well, and as you might suspect this is proving problematic for human health and the environment.

You’re Likely Eating Foods That Contain a Built-in Pesticide and Don’t Even Know It

 The particular gene added to most corn crops is a type of Bt-toxin — produced from Bacillus thuringiensis bacteria. Genetic engineers remove the gene that produces the Bt in bacteria and insert it into the DNA of corn (and cotton) plants.