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have been approved for U.S. food and feed supplies. In 2009, 100
percent of all sugar beets grown in the United States were geneti-
cally modifi ed, as well as 90 percent of soybeans, 90 percent of cot-
ton, and 80 percent of corn.
Although this new method of farming was initially sold as a way
to increase yields and feed the starving masses, prevent vitamin A
blindness in Africa, and reduce our pesticide needs, it has fallen far
short of this sales pitch. Furthermore, the spread of genetically engi-
neered (GE) agriculture has made farmers dependent on their more
expensive seeds, equipment, and foreign oil and has threatened our
biodiversity beyond our worst imaginings. Ninety - seven percent of
the varieties of vegetables that were grown by our ancestors are now
extinct. This new monoculture causes a greater susceptibility to
disease in plants, increasing the need for pesticides and fertilizers,
and it results in more waste, less delight in a variety of foods, and,
on some level, a hole in our soul.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued several state-
ments assuring consumers that GM foods were harmless, saying
that it was “ not aware of any information showing that foods derived
by these new methods differ from other foods in any meaningful or
uniform way. ” Author Jeffrey M. Smith presents a different opin-
ion in his book Genetic Roulette. In it, he interviewed Dr. Michael
Antoniou, a senior lecturer in molecular genetics at the Guy Kings
and St. Thomas ’ School of Medicine in London, who believes that
GM foods are inherently different at the cellular level. At a public
hearing in London, Dr. Antoniou said, “ In marked contrast to sexual
reproduction, GM allows the isolation, cutting, joining, and trans-
fer of single or multiple genes between totally unrelated organisms,
circumventing natural species barriers. As a result, combinations of
genes are produced that would never occur naturally. ” It is the impre-
cision in the way that these genes are combined and the unpredict-
able nature of how these newly introduced genes will react in their
new host environments that make them dangerous unless they are
regulated.
But isn ’ t the U.S. government responsible for the safety and
quality of our food supply? In fact, our foods are regulated by three