Labeling GMO

Seoul YWCA staffs participated in a training session to learn more about GMO. “Genetically Engineered Foods”, “Genetically modified organisms,” or GMOs, are organisms that have been created through application of transgenic, gene-splicing techniques that are part of biotechnology. These transgenic methods for moving genes around are also called “genetic engineering,” or GE.
 

 

 

This relatively new science allows DNA (genetic material) from one species to be transferred into another species, creating transgenic organisms with combinations of genes from plants, animals, bacteria, and even viral gene pools. The mixing of genes from different species that have never shared genes in the past is what makes GMOs and GE crops so unique. It is impossible to create such transgenic organisms through traditional crossbreeding methods.

    

In South Korea, labeling GMO law is not enacted yet, so many citizens don't care about what GMO is, what kind of ingredients industrial product have, what the harm GMO food will bring about.

Korea is the first ranked country to import GMO food from all over the world and our food self-sufficiency rate is only 23%. This numbers are not the positive signals to keep our food security. 

 

 

Besides the food security in Korea, Seoul YWCA request related-governmental organization to label GMO food. Ever since GMOs entered the market 20 years ago, we’ve been kept in the dark about whether food we feed our families contain GMOs. While our reasons for wanting to know what’s in our food may vary, what unifies us is the belief that it’s our right. Without labeling of GMOs, we cannot make informed choices about our food. The Just Label It campaign was created to advocate for the labeling of GMO foods.