Text reads: You can tell if a fruit or vegetable is organic or non-organic by the PLU code. If the number begins with a 9 and is 5 digits, then it's organic. If the number begins with an 8 then it is GM. A label that with 4 digits was conventionally grown.
This picture displays a section of my science project that I did with my friend Petra. We did a project on GMOs. GMOs are Genetically Modified Organisms, which means they were injected with a different animal’s or plant’s genes. All animals, humans, and plants have genes inside their cells. Their genes determine the animal, human or plant’s gender, their eye color (for animals and humans), their height, and so on. Genes are like a computer document that each human, plant, or animal has with information about itself.
What if I told you that when you eat tomatoes that are not organic, you are probably eating fish tomatoes? Eeew, right? Well that is exactly what could be in your tomatoes. The reason it could be a fish tomato is because someone took a tomato gene out of a tomato, and replaced it with a fish gene. Think of it as if genes were guts, and someone replaced your regular insides of a tomato with fish guts. When I first heard this, I was freaked out. I was even more freaked out when I heard that this GMO stuff is not labeled, and therefore, it can be in any food I eat! Then, I learned that there is one type of food that is GMO-free: organic food. Organic foods contain no chemicals, and no GMOs.
Recently, my friend and I found out that there is a way to tell if something is genetically modified, conventionally raised (grown with chemicals), or grown organically. The clue is the PLU codes. What are PLU codes? PLU codes are Price-Look-Up codes. When typed into a certain computer program, they give the price information for a product. Where do you find them? The price-look-up code is only on produce, which means apples, tomatoes, and other unpackaged fruits or vegetables. There are many GMOs that are produce, but most of them are packaged. If they are packaged, they do not need a price-look-up code. Have a look at the PLU codes, and buy organic!
By Morgan Carmen
