I just saw the 2004 documentary The Future of Food, all about biotechnology and genetic engineering of crops. It was really wonderful, with a moving final scene showing how we can avoid the direction we’re headed in. Here are some startling facts from the film:
- 97% of the vegetables grown at the beginning of the 20th century are now extinct. Very few varieties of fruits and vegetables are grown today.
- Companies don’t want genetically modified (GM) foods labeled because they don’t want consumers to know about it, but also perhaps more importantly, because we can’t trace the health effects of GM foods if they’re not labeled.
- 75% of Europeans don’t want GM foods in their stores.
- More than 80% of Americans polled want GM foods labeled in the U.S.
- Japan is distrusting of GM foods. A Japanese trade representative concerned about GM foods said “we’ll watch the children in the U.S. for the next 10 years.” This is chilling to me–that other countries acknowledge that American children are essentially lab rats on which we test GM foods and other ingredients.
- Some GM modified crops contain a “terminator gene,” which is patented by the U.S. government. This terminator gene is designed to allow crops to grow for one season only and then terminate. This seems like an especially dangerous gene to be releasing into our environment and food supply.
- In the U.S., corn, wheat, cotton, and soy is subsidized by our government. In Europe, farmers are subsidized instead.
- Thanks to GM seeds, farmers are now seeing “superweeds,” which are resistant to standard herbicides. So we are actually having to spray the crops with more chemicals, not less.
- In 1992, the FDA said that GM food can be toxic, create new allergens, lower nutrition, and impair research animal immune systems. Despite this, the Bush administration advised that there be no regulations on biotech companies.
- In 2003, 100 million acres in the U.S. grew GM corn, canola, soy, and cotton.
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