Is it GMO? Is it Hybrid? Aren’t they the same thing?
NO! They are not.
Often, I have people ask about the chicken I raise. I raise Cornish Cross. “Well, that’s GMO”, they say. Its a common misconception but no, it’s not GMO. It’s a hybrid. So what’s the difference?
Well, a hybrid is cross between two different but related plants or two different but related animals. These two (chickens in the case of Cornish Cross) are chosen for their traits and selectively bred over time to create the hybrid. Generally, these traits do not carry well from one generation to another. So breeding Cornish Cross to Cornish Cross does not give the same traits desired as in the first generation.
GMOs, Genetically Modified Organisims, are not created using natural, low-tech methods. GMO varieties are created in a lab using high-tech and sophisticated techniques like gene-splicing. This combination is from two different things not a cross of similar plants or animals.
An example is BT corn created by Monsanto. BT corn is corn that has had a pesticide spliced into the gene of the corn. The idea was to create a pest resistant strain of corn. Any pest that eats the plant would die because of the pesticide. This carries on from plant to feed. If the BT corn is part of cattle feed, it would kill the pest but not the cattle. Although, the cattle would still carry on the pesticide in its meat, for you to consume at a later time. Is there a problem with a “build up” of this pesticide in your meat or even you? I suspect so. A search of pesticides and meat will show a variety of responses, limitations and health concerns.
So is a Cornish Cross a GMO chicken? No, it is not. It is a hybrid. My chickens are fed an organic soy free feed. They are not fed a conventional feed that could possibly have GMOs. (Organic cannot, by definition, be GMO. But that’s another blog). I know the quality of what they are eating is creating the best final product. After all, you are what your food eats!