Life’s Flavors ~ GMO Tomatoes, Yes or No? By Allison Libby-Thesing
How do you feel about genetically modified organisms, or more commonly referred to GMO plants and seeds? While listening to NPR, National Public Radio, the other day on the way to afternoon school pick up, I heard a story about a new type of tomato that has been modified with snapdragon DNA. This new purple tomato is the first GMO plant that will be made available to home gardeners. Previously any seeds created as a GMO were only available to commercial growers, so this new tomato variety could be the start of something new for home gardens.
The purple tomato was developed with snapdragon genes in order to enhance the color and create a plant with “Anthocyanins have been shown to have anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory effects. They’re antioxidants, which can help neutralize unstable molecules in the body that can damage healthy cells and are linked with aging and disease.” These new tomatoes have the same amount of anthocyanins as a blueberry or eggplant according to the scientist who developed them.
It still begs the question on whether or not you would grow or eat this new hybrid of tomato. Do the health benefits out weigh the science behind this new nightshade? Or will this development go by the way of corn and soybeans in the United States and be thought of as damaging to our land and resources? Could all these GMO foods be the reason there is a rise in food allergies in the population? How about an increase in other diseases or cancer? In the past GMO foods have also been thought to have been seen as having a loss of nutrition. The new purple tomato is claiming the opposite is true by having more antioxidants than its cousins.
These new tomatoes are claiming that their genes have an increase of healthy cells made for human consumption. One of my favorite tomatoes that we grow are called Cherokee Purple, and they have a nice deep purple colors as well, but not as dark as the modified ones. Those seeds can be found as an heirloom tomato seed, thought to have first originated from the Cherokee Indians in 1890.
The question still stands, would you grow new GMO purple tomatoes if given the chance? Or will you stick with the old standby of the seeds that you know and love from those that you saved or buy new? Let us know what will be growing in your garden this Spring and Summer.
By Allison Libby-Thesing
