Since they were first commercially grown in the mid-1990s,
genetically engineered (GE) crops have expanded across the globe, offering
farmers the advantages of genetically enhanced resistance to drought,
herbicides, and insects. According to the International Service for the
Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications (ISAAA), a crop biotechnology advocacy
organization, farmers in 29 countries grew nearly 400 million acres of
commercial GE crops in 2011, an 8% increase from the previous year.1 An
estimated 60–70% of processed foods in the United States contain GE
ingredients,2 and GE corn and soybeans make up the majority of the U.S. crop.3