Given the strong congressional lobby against labeling, organic doesn't mean much in and of itself. The problem with genetically engineered foodstuffs is not necessarily the foodstuff itself but that in practice it's mostly synonymous with herbicide resistance. And that herbicide is mostly synonymous with glyphosate which is looking to also be really screwing with our gut biome on top of being a probable carcinogen. On the topic of glyphosate there was an interesting submission here [1].

[1] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17043629

Organic doesn't mean they're not using pesticides at all, and no fertilizer and singing kumbaya to their crops every night. The problem with the term "organic" is that it means different things to different agencies.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't there a lack of proper regulation for organic food products? The USDA fine is "only" $11,000 -- that's nothing for major distributors. I've always heard that it's impossible for the Certified Organic label to be regulated properly due to sheer volume, and most people don't know the difference between that and just buying something labeled "organic" (which has absolutely no regulation).

>And I’m guessing any GMO plants will be much safer than antibiotic-laced alternatives.

Would they? For one, there's nothing about GMOs that says they can't also lace them with all kinds of crap.

And it's mostly profit-driven amateur magicians engineers driving them, not actual scientists interested in improving learning and testing them long term. So I'd trust their safety guarantees as much as I trust tobacco or drug companies...