@MeiselZachary (for ex, if the GMO gene makes the crop susceptible to a blight that gets introduced and spreads widely... you'd want to be able to shift to a variety without that gene, maybe use it to make a new GMO with a different gene)

@MeiselZachary Another complaint is more about one way GMO is used in practice- which is to make the crop immune to a pesticide so the field can be sprayed to kill everything except the crop...

@MeiselZachary Permaculture says that indiscriminate use of pesticides kills both plant-eating pests and the predators which in nature keep them in check... But the pests rebound faster than the predators so you have a bigger problem the next year, requiring increasing chemical applications

@MeiselZachary Chemicals applied to a field wash down the watershed and accumulate in animals that eat plants. History shows we've repeatedly had to ban specific chemicals after discovering negative side effects on environment / human health.. So I prefer practices that don't require chemicals

@MeiselZachary Ofc other side is that chemicals maximize yield- food would be more expensive if produced without them (unclear *how much* more expensive tho)... Otoh, the chemicals are expensive, which makes it harder to turn a profit esp. in bad years... 🤷‍♀️

@MeiselZachary So, I support GMO labeling laws and would personally buy non-GMO because I can afford to pay more for my preference