EPA May Set Limits on the Amount of GMO Corn Grown in US

Companies like Monsanto have long touted the benefits of their genetically modified seeds, which make up about half of their annual profits. But these pesticide producing plants have a major downside. While they may produce higher yields at first, the pests they’re supposed to kill can quickly evolve to resist the poison.

This is causing big problems for Americas corn crops, of which over 90% are genetically modified. GMO corn is starting to produce pesticide resistant rootworms, which are now more abundant than ever before. This in turn is forcing farmers to spray even more pesticides on their crops, which not only poses more risks for human health, but would increase the pesticide resistance of the rootworms in the long run. Now the EPA may set limits on how much GMO corn can be grown in the US. EPA deputy Bill Jordan noted “It is getting worse, what’s happened so far hasn’t prevented these problems from arising, so we see need for something more.”

Earlier this year the EPA suggested that farmers start to rotate between several different GMO corns, but in the past these worms have also managed to adapt to the crop rotation strategy. Ultimately, the only solution is to cut back on corn crops entirely, which won’t happen any time soon since they’re so heavily subsidized by the government. If you haven’t cut corn from you grocery list, you might want to consider it now because these crops are about to become even more toxic as subsidized farmers just keep dumping more poison on them.