Q: I have been looking at the vegetable garden seed packages at the store; some are labeled as being free of genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, and some are not labeled as such. Should I be looking for packages labeled one way or the other? If the package says the product is non-GMO, can it still have genetically engineered ingredients?

A: "GM" stands for genetically modified. "GE" stands for genetically engineered. If you engineer something, you modify it. So all GE plants and animals are also GM.

All organisms that are different from their parents are genetically modified. The only plants and animals that are not modified are clones. Numerous tree crops are grafted, and so are clones. We love genetically modified plants and animals. Plant and animal breeders are constantly improving our landscapes with prettier flowers and new hybrids, and helping our animals to be stronger. Genetic modification is normal and natural and nothing to be upset about at all.

Genetic engineering is usually done by inserting DNA from one kind of organism into another kind of organism. For instance, bacterial DNA inserted into corn plants can make the corn resistant to damage from moth caterpillars. This corn then needs fewer insecticides to protect it.

The United States Department of Agriculture, or USDA, defines genetic modification as "the production of heritable improvements in plants or animals for specific uses, via either genetic engineering or other more traditional methods." Some countries other than the United States, it says, use this term to refer specifically to genetic engineering.

Did you see what it did there? By definition, modification can be "either genetic engineering or other more traditional methods." Traditional methods include plain old plant breeding, which has taken place for thousands of years! As follows, according to the USDA, genetic engineering and genetic modification are equal, though genetic engineering is really just a subset of genetic modification. Also, according to that definition, all vegetable garden seeds and plants are genetically modified, even if the label says non-GMO.

The USDA defines genetic engineering as the "manipulation of an organism's genes by introducing, eliminating or rearranging specific genes using the methods of modern molecular biology, particularly those techniques referred to as recombinant DNA techniques." Genetic engineering is a shortcut to a new genetically modified organism that would be time-consuming or impossible to achieve through hybridization.

Many people are fearful that genetic engineering moves genes between different kinds of organisms because it is not the same thing as so-called traditional methods of genetically modifying plants and animals. Unfortunately, using the USDA definition, you can't tell what is really in a seed package or food package.

According to the definition, all seeds and foods (that are not cloned products) are GMO products, even if their label says they are non-GMO. Even heirloom and organic seeds and foods that do not have genetically engineered genes are genetically modified, since they are produced according to the USDA definition that says they were improved using traditional methods.

The non-GMO labels are trying to say the product is not genetically engineered, so why not just say so? The only vegetable seed company I know of that understands the difference between GM and GE is the Charles Hart Seed Co. It has vegetable seeds and flower seeds packaged with the GE-free label. Find them on the company website.

Email questions to Jeff Rugg at info@greenerview.com. To find out more about Jeff Rugg and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.