Persuasive Speech/Controversial free essay sample

I’ve thoroughly done research with the help of our OCC Library Database online 5. Today I will go through a sequence of the disadvantage as well as the advantages of GM foods and in the process of my speech I would like to talk about how genetically engineered food can benefit countries of the third world. Transition: Lets start this speech with a disadvantage of the genetically modified food. Body 1. Today agriculture already consumes the largest percentage of Earth’s land surface and by increasing the food production we’d have to increase farmland, which will add to destruction of the environment. . Jonathan Foley, director of the Institute on the Environment at the University of Minnesota claims that â€Å"by clearing tropical forests, farming marginal lands, and intensifying industrial farming in sensitive landscapes, humankind has made agriculture the planet’s dominant environmental threat. † b. With that said adding to this problem only 60 % o f the foods produced are actually used to feed people i. We will write a custom essay sample on Persuasive Speech/Controversial or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page 5 % are used for bio-fuels ii. 35 % are used for animal feed. iii. Jonathan Foley adds that feeding crops to animals reduces the worlds potential food supply Transition: Okay, now that you’ve heard a disadvantage GM food, lets get into an advantage II. Genetically modified foods started appearing on market shelves ever since the early 1990’s. a. These foods were altered to withstand weather and growing conditions along with improved product shelf life and increased nutritional values i. With these improvements farmers could harvest fruits and vegetables in areas where they don’t normally grow. ii. Longer shelf life meant less wasted food iii. Increase nutritional values meant less people going hungry and more health benefits for the malnutrition in third world countries b. According to scientists at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology for Plant â€Å"Vaccines can be inserted into GM foods†¦this could prevent diseases and viruses from spreading in developing countries† Transition: Okay, next lets get into another advantage of GM foods III. Biotechnology in GM foods can help produce greater yields in fruits and vegetables with less required resources. Higher yields meant larger quantity of food to help feed starving third world countries and a solution to world hunger a. Nina Fedoroff, professor of biology and life sciences at Penn State University says Using resources more efficiently is what it will take to put agriculture on a path to feed the expected future population of nine billion people, b. According to Tracey Schelmetic, a contributing editor for Technology Marketing Corporation, she states that, â€Å"So far the studies looking for a direct connection between GM foods and negative human health consequences have come up with an inclusive mixed bag of unsupported theories. † Transition: Now that you’ve heard some advantages and disadvantages its time to conclude Conclusion: 1. Today, I have talked about the disadvantage of how GM food can harm the environment, an advantage of how food can be modified with higher nutritional value for malnutrition countries, and the advantage of it being a solution for world hunger. 2. I hope by listening to this speech we have come to an agreement that the benefits outweigh the drawbacks of GM foods. 3. Even though the votes did not pass for labeling our foods here in America, I think the bigger problem is tackling hunger in other countries. Works Cited Food Insecurity. Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection. Gale, Cengage Learning, 2010. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 19 Nov. 2012. Messer, Andrea Elyse. Genetically Engineered Foods Are Needed to Feed the World. Genetically Engineered Foods. Ed. Debra A. Miller. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2012. At Issue. Rpt. from Global Effort Needed to Feed the World. 2011. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 19 Nov. 2012. Ravichandran, V. Biotechnology Will Reduce Food Insecurity. Food Insecurity. Ed. Louise I. Gerdes. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2012. At Issue. Rpt. from Food Security Depends on the Truth of Science. Truth About Trade and Technology. 2011. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 19 Nov. 2012. Schelmetic, Tracey. Genetically Engineered Foods Have Not Been Proven to Be Harmful. Genetically Engineered Foods. Ed. Debra A. Miller. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2012. At Issue. Rpt. from Public Perception—Not Science—Will Rule the GM Food Debate. Thomas Net News. 2011. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. We b. 19 Nov. 2012. Starvation in the Sahel: food security in Africa. Harvard International Review 34. 1 (2012): 6+. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 19 Nov. 2012.