Americans apathetic to superplants

By Eli Kintisch

Wake up, America, you're eating genetically tampered food.

Shift your gaze from this newspaper over to your dining hall tray, and back again. There is a good chance that you were staring at food that was genetically altered. The U.S. Department of Agriculture reports that over one-fifth of the corn and 40 percent of the soybeans in this country are grown with seeds containing genes altered to perform better. Take a close look at the clothes around you--over half of the cotton produced in this country is genetically engineered.

Geneticists are wielding awesome power. The new genes confer more tolerance of certain herbicides, more pest resistance, or a greater yield of nutrients like starches or oils. If you listen to the biotech spokesmen who stand to make millions, agro-biotechnology could deliver delicious synthetic cocoa beans, an end to world hunger, and bananas that could one day contain the cholera vaccine.

Despite their promise, the new plants raise a host of ethical questions. Is the manipulation of genes in plants taking science too far, or is it equivalent to using a tractor as opposed to a hand-drawn plow?

The answers are vital. But why isn't this an issue in the U.S.? Where's the public controversy? Where is the debate? Why are Americans apathetic and ignorant when it comes to the way we grow our crops?

In Europe, the introduction of genetically altered crops has been met with monumental public outcry. The 15 nations of the European Union have banned the use of altered seeds; Austria and Luxembourg have outlawed genetically modified food. All American soybean imports are prohibited in Norway.

Here in the U.S., scientists are frolicking in the cornfield. Americans have historically been the world's strongest supporters of agricultural technology. Our cows are injected with hormones, and our amber waves of grain bathe in pesticides.

Perhaps the rift in attitudes has as much to do with European fears of eugenics as American pragmatism. The specter of the Holocaust has many Europeans fearing genetic innovations of any kind. Also, the environmental "green" movement is much stronger on the continent, where most farms are family-run and smaller than their U.S. counterparts. Europeans simply care more about their food. For years, the Europeans have supported organic food and shunned the American packaged McMeal.

Along with moral dilemnas, there are a host of agricultural and economic risks to the genetic alternation of agriculture. Recent evidence suggest that pests could evolve in response to the new plants, producing so-called "superbugs" that would be a challenge for any farmer. A gene that produces vanilla flavor in many plants could ruin the economy of Madagascar, which depends on its vanilla exports. And while a more nutritious rice plant could help impoverished nations, companies are thinking short-term, targeting middle-class Stop and Shops, not third world markets.

According to Ellen Messer, a professor from Brown University who spoke at Yale on agro-biotechnology on Wed., Sept. 16, the use of genetically pumped seeds is on the rise. Last year, over 30 million acres of commercial farmland were planted with altered seeds--10 times the acreage of the year before.

Maybe, considering America's obsession with a healthy diet, we'll one day look more closely at our crops and label our produce as they do in Europe. Soon, I imagine, our generation will find "gene-pure" carrots alongside bottled designer water, Nutrasweet laced Diet Coke, and unusually busty tomatoes. I can see the ad campaigns now: "Gene-improved beef--it's what's for dinner--in the 21st century." The choice, they will tell us, is ours.

But what if it's not? Scientist warn of cross-contamination of plants--we could one day lose track of which are altered and which aren't. If, in fact, we are what we eat, we better make this an issue.

Eli Kintisch is a senior in Ezra Stiles.

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