Frankenstein Foods

Halloween is over, but some scary produce could still be lurking in the aisles of your favorite grocery store.

A journalist interviewed people “on the street” and asked them if they were in favor of food biotechnology. Most folks said, “yes”.  Her next question to each person was, “How do you feel about genetically modified organisms?”. After some hesitation, people made comments such as “that’s scary” or “I don’t like the sound of that.”

Personally, I haven’t given it much thought. I’m not sure one can fully understand all the long-term consequences of biotechnology, but I don’t really see it as unnatural. Mutations happen in nature. Nature can be pretty scary, too.

One of my favorite organizations, Center for Science in the Public Interest, has published an interesting discussion of this topic at cspi.org/biotech/faq.html. It’s not light reading.

 Tomorrow’s Table: Organic Farming, Genetics, and the Future of Food is a fairly new book that was reviewed by Stewart Brand, the creator of the Whole Earth Catalog.  He said they make "a persuasive case that, far from being contradictory, the merging of Genetic Engineering and Organic Farming offers our best shot at truly sustainable agriculture.”

What do you think?