Bud wiser

Our survival is not independent of the survival of our food supply. Because of this I admit to being conservative when it comes to introducing GM-based products to market. In fact I would rather pay more for organic produce than trust to market forces as a mother.

I feel that folks bringing GM products to market have been playing fast and loose with human survival. After all, natural selection is a process that has been field tested for millions of years and there may be unapparent reasons for a plant's traits.

I would also say that the early fruits of the GM fields are products like tomatoes that ship well and cannot compete with their packaging for flavor. In other instances, the natural cycle of life is replaced with industrial gardening techniques that poison the land and erode the soil.

A new practice, bio-pharming (I ignore the 'P'), incorporates pharmaceuticals into plants. While this could help reduce medicinal manufacturing costs, there is a chance that such openly-pollinated plant pills will cross pollinate with wild neighboring plants. Imagine if a trip to the super-market for a loaf of bread could introduce one to a game of medicinal roulette. Perhaps the lucky will ingest Viagra. Perhaps the unlucky will ingest estrogen.

Should we treat these risks lightly?

Will limits be placed on the types of drugs manufactured in this way (i.e. should the side-effects be a determining factor)?

Could the new plants introduce dangerous food allergies into previously safe foods?

Is it safe to take medicine in amounts impossible to control (what's the dosage in a slice of toast or a bowl of cereal)?

And finally should producers like Budweiser, who are the nations largest buyer of rice, worry about the risk of infecting their beer with pharmaceutical cocktails?

Apparently that is a thought that has occurred to them and Anheuser-Busch is believed to be the first major company to threaten a boycott over the issue:

Beer Giant Says it Won't Buy Rice from States That Grow GM Crops

I would like to say in closing that while I feel there is great promise in GM foods, greater still is the responsibility inherent in their production. Consequently I don't feel comfortable supporting GM foods until the danger of cross-pollination is removed, and until there are laws isolating the GM food production chain, and until there are governmental oversight panels similar to the FDA dedicated to protecting us from honest mistakes and dishonest suppliers.

I also say, "Good for you Anheuser-Busch for erring on the side of my health."