Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) are all around us. Most prominently, they are in Indiana's corn and soybean fields in the summer. Human beings began to tinker with genetics of plants as long as nine thousand years when inhabitants of modern Mexico cross-pollinated forms of maize to obtain plants that produced better ancestors of today's corn. New York Times, 5/4/10. Those agrarians did not alter the DNA structures of the plants they tended. Today's GMOs are different. Monsanto Corporation has figured prominently in this debate. Monsanto has developed pesticides and fertilizers to co-exist with strains of plants produced by the corporation's scientists. 

   People generally are bothered by the notion a plant, the fruit (used as a general description) of which they eat also produces a toxin to repel insects. Mix in the multinational corporations that have given life to these new life forms, and a case of paranoia is born.

   In yesterday's New York Times, reporter Amy Harmon notes the odd ways in which people on the left, who generally have been in support of scientists' claim about global climate change, now are aligned against "global scientific consensus" that "genetically engineered crops are no riskier than others, and have provided some tangible benefits."  Harmon, "A Lonely Quest for Facts on Genetically Modified Crops," NYT, 1/5/14. There are corporations on the side of those opposed to GMOs. Whole Foods has promised "by 2018 it will replace some foods containing genetically modified ingredients and label others."  Last week General Mills said it will stop using GMOs in Cheerios.

   In 2012, ballot initiatives in California and Washington were voted down that would have required products that carry GMOs to be labeled as such. It would seem people are entitled to know what is in the food we eat. I am unaware of any polls conducted as to what percentage of people reads the ingredients listed on a particular food product. Hoosiers probably are in the bottom half of whatever States' residents are considered.

   Two points should be considered: (1) GMOs are said to be contained in at least 75 percent of the foods we consume; and (2) Corporate giants, such as that so-benevolent Whole Foods, are pushing "for" labeling as they see a market for goods labeled with GMOs.

   As Lincoln either wrote or said---I am not sure which, but the masthead of The Kokomo Tribune used to run it: "Let the people know the facts, and the country will be safe." If such a large percentage of our foods contain GMOs, labels to the effect a particular item contains GMOs might be silly. After all, if someone buys a package of HoHos and a bottle of just about any soft drink, does that person really need to be told GMOs are in both items? High fructose corn syrup is a major form of GMO product in this country.

   People at least should be given more facts about GMOs. Then again, ignorance is bliss, especially if the ignorant person is comfortable on a couch with a can of Pringles(r) and a Coca-Cola(r) as that person watches a Patriots game. The person never would have guessed Bill Belichek is at the heart of evil and cannot see his reflection in a mirror.

   There is a hot debate about