I am actually in favor of some
genetic engineering. It depends on the purpose and overall effect of the change. The
BT corn and
BT cotton variations actually reduce the use of
pesticides because they give the plants a natural resistance to insects (and boy does cotton need it! More than half the pesticide use in the
U.S. is on cotton). However, the soy modification does just the opposite: it allows the use of the
herbicide Round-Up on
soybeans, which would normally be susceptible to it and therefore prevent its use the control
weeds in a soy field. A lot of the items carried in health stores come from small companies and often specify if the ingredients are
non-GMO; some even have a larger, noticable label that says it.
Also, the regulations for labeling something "organic" include that genetically modified organisms can not be labeled organic, so this is another way to recognize beans that are not Round-Up Ready.