GMO OMG Viewing Guide
Name: _____________________________
1. What is a GMO according to the World Health Organization?
2. What are the two types of GMOs?
3. What do pesticide producers do?
4. What does an herbicide resister do?
a. Why does the soy plant remain unharmed
5. How long were most studies done on health effects of GMOs?
a. Who conducted the experiments?
6. What did Haitian farmers do to Monsanto’s hybrid seeds?
a. Why? (Hint: what does the Haitian farmers who were interviewed say?)
7. What did Jeremy find at whole foods that surprised him?
8. If something isn’t labeled as Organic, it means that it could come from animals that are fed what?
9. What percent of all corn grown in the US is genetically modified?
10. How many million acres of GMOs grow in the US?
11. How many million acres of GMOs grow worldwide?
12. Michael Allen- hybrid seed dealer, says that one bag of corn costs how much?
a. What did his grandpa do with the corn every year in the attic of the house? Why?
13. In 1860 what percentage of the workforce was farmers?
a. How about today?
14. Why can’t the farmers save the hybrid seeds to replant them the next year?
15. What response did Jeremy get when he tried to set up interviews with the hybrid producing companies
to ask them about their products and whether or not they were safe?
16. The corn being grown in Iowa (and any other gmo planted locations) is registered with the state as a:
17. What does Bill Beam, a conventional farmer, have to say about organic farming verses commercial
farming? (hint: what does he say about their output)
18. How many people live on less than $1 per day
a. What would switching over to organic only farming due to this population of people (in the
opinion of Bill Beam?)
19. Gene Logsdon grows some naturally pollinated corn but thinks that by now his probably have become
contaminated because his neighbor plants GMO corn.
a. How can a Non GMO farm be contaminated by GMO crops?
b. What does this mean legally when their crops become unknowingly contaminated?
c. What has Monsanto done about it?
20. Why does Jeremy tell the conventional farmer/seed dealer about why he wants to avoid GMOs? (What
is he not sure about?)
a. What does the seed dealer say about his concerns?
21. Around 900 ad what did Chinese farmers begin to do?
22. How many species of bugs are now resistant to pesticides?
23. Albeit silly, why does Jeremy have his children dress in special suits to play in the corn?
24. The 30 year Rodale institute study has shown that organic crop production is
__________________________ to conventional crop production.
a. In years of drought, how much more organic crops grow than conventional?
b. Conventional systems emit how much more % of greenhouse gasses than organic?
25. Why is Seed Savers Company saving seeds? (Hint: Why is it important?)
a. What does loss of diversity threaten?
26. What does Dennis Kucinich say about labeling GMOs (what does precautionary principle dictate)?
a. According to Hans Herren, in Europe, what do consumers do with GMO foods?
b. When Dennis Kucinich tries to get legislation passed in Connecticut for mandatory GMO
labeling, what did Monsanto do?
27. In 1992, under heavy pressure from the biotech industry, what did the FDA say about GMOs?
a. What’s the bottom line… why don’t the hybrid seed companies want their products labeled?
(What does it all come down to?)
28. Two studies point to what as the culprit of declining bee populations?
29. What surprising thing does Jeremy learn about the Rainbow trout in the Sequoia National forest?
30. In Norway, Jeremy is going to visit an International Seed Bank- where seeds are sent and saved from all
over the world.
a. Why does it exist? (For what purpose?)
31. How to Norwegians see GMO foods?
a. In Norway, in order to allow a GMO food onto the shelves, it must not pose any harm to what?
32. What year did the European start mandating GMO labeling?
a. What still remains unlabeled?
33. Jeremy heads to France to see the results of Serilini’s 2 year study on health effects of Monsanto
Roundup Ready seeds on rats.
a. After how many months of research did Monsanto publish their study?
b. What did Serilini’s Study find?
i. After how many months did the adult rats begin showing tumors?
c. Serilini was widely criticized for the type of rats he used, but they were the same breed of rats
that Monsanto used in his study. He was also criticized for not releasing his raw data, however,
he says he will release it when?
34. What does Jeremy tell, his son, Finn is one of the reasons why he doesn’t like GMOs or the biotech
companies?
a. What does Finn think about this (his solution?)