>From: Natasha Vita-More <natasha@natasha.cc>
>With better testing and more discussion, farmers will be able to
>decide for themselves if they want to farm with genetically
>modified crops.
>In another article I read today, "Genetically Altered Foods are
>the Key to Feeding Increasingly Hungry World" (August 27, 2000,
>Op-ed By Richard Berman) -- a couple of quotes of rational. I
>especially liked the statement about "The organic crusade finds an
>audience in a movement that sees natural farming as one step on
>the road back to Eden."
>"The plain truth, quoting FDA Commissioner Jane Henney, is that
>'biotech products have produced no evidence of food safety risks:
>not one rash, not one sore throat, not one headache.' That is not
>a claim that organic foods, which often eschew such fundamental
>safety steps as pasteurization, can match. "
I'm wondering if there are problems that have not been recognized
yet, in fact I have a candidate, GERD. I had never even heard of it
a few years ago (Gastro-esophageal reflux disease) and am
surrounded by people who seem to be diagnosed with it on a regular
basis. I know dozens of people on medication for it.
I've had every test you can imagine, and they can't find a cause.
Since it's not immediately life threatening, and is controllable
with medication/diet/exercise there doesn't seem to be a rush to
find an answer. Yet there is an "outbreak" in the growing number of
new cases, and this just in the last couple of years.
Guess what else's new in the last couple of years?
>"How then is the organic-foods industry able to put this new
>exciting agricultural technology under a cloud? Part of the answer
>is the tendency of many Americans to cling to romantic ideals. The
>organic crusade finds an audience in a movement that sees natural
>farming as one step on the road back to Eden. Chefs Collaboratives
>founding organization, Oldways, for instance, speaks of looking
>back for dietary lessons that would help humanity weave a seamless
>web of agriculture, behavior, history, tradition, culture, health,
>finance, politics . . . ' Or as Chefs Collaborative board member
>Judy Wicks puts it, 'We like to say we use good food to lure
>innocent customers into social activism.'"
>http://www.guestchoice.com/oped19.htm
I think this is just the continuation of a healthy lifestyles
movement. The trend for a long time has been the freshest food,
prepared simply, with the best taste, highest nutrition, lowest
calories possible.
The biotech industry would be wise to follow this trend.
I see this as a good thing.
Brian
Member:
Extropy Institute, www.extropy.org
Adler Planetarium www.adlerplanetarium.org
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