Beware of the Genetic Tomato Tamperers
Some people are too smart for your own good.
Food geneticists, for example. These technicians have the smarts to
tinker with the inner workings of Momma Nature's own good foods — but
not the smarts to leave well enough alone.
In fairness, much of their scientific tinkering has been beneficial.
But during the past half-century, too much of their work devolved from
tinkering into outright tampering with our food. This is mostly the
result of money flowing to both private and public research centers from
big agribusiness corporations that want nature's design altered in ways
that fatten their bottom lines. Never mind that the alterations created
by these smart people are frequently not good for you and me.
Take the tomato, truly a natural wonder. Agribusiness profiteers,
however, wanted it to do unnatural things, so — voila! — the genetic
tamperers in the 1960s and '70s dutifully produced the Amazing
Industrial Tomato. It's a techno-marvel made to endure long-distance
shipping, be harvested while green and then artificially ripened to
appear tomato-y red and last an ungodly amount of time without rotting.
But taste? Forget it. There's more flavor in the carton. This led to
the "Upchuck Rebellion" — a grassroots movement of consumers, small
farmers and local food artisans. In the last couple of decades, they've
spurred phenomenal growth in farmers markets and stores that offer
nature's own locally produced and heirloom varieties untouched by the
smart ones.
But, look out, the tomato tamperers are back in the lab! They've
discovered that a mutated gene they had bred into the corporate tomato
switches off other genes that would cause the fruit to develop flavor.
The answer, they say, is not less technology, but more. By artificially
re-engineering the DNA structure of the plant, they can bypass that
naughty mutated gene and switch on some of the flavor genes. But do we
really want to eat genetically engineered tomatoes?
Still, you can expect them to push the latest alteration of nature's marvel.
I can just see the agribusiness ad: "Buy our industrial tomatoes —
Now genetically flavored!" Better yet, buy the local tomatoes, which
don't need a smart geneticist or an ad to deliver real flavor.
Unfortunately, it's not just tomatoes they're tampering with. For
instance, if you are parent you may be worried about the plethora of
highly questionable bio-engineered organisms that the profiteers have
quietly been slipping into everything from snack foods to school
lunches.
Well, perhaps your own children can put your mind at ease, for
science teachers around the country have been assigning a book called
"Look Closer at Biotechnology" to the kiddos in their classes. It's
filled with colorful images, friendly cartoon faces, puzzles and more!
The very first page makes clear that the scientific wonder of
genetically engineered foods pose no worries at all. "Hi, kids," it
begins. "This is an activity book for young people like you about ... a
really neat topic." Why is it so neat? Because, say the authors, "as you
work through the puzzles in this book, you will learn more about
biotechnology and all the wonderful ways it can help people live better
lives in a healthier world. Have fun!"
Fun? With genetically engineered food? That's not fun, it's serious
business — and look who's behind this book of fairy tales: the Council
for Biotechnology Information.
Exactly what and who is CBI? It's a PR and political front for the
biotech industry, financed by such multibillion-dollar giants as
Monsanto, Bayer, DuPont and Dow. It's also now funneling hundreds of
thousands of dollars into the industry's deceitful political campaign to
kill a California "Right to Know" ballot initiative that finally would
require food giants to label all products containing genetically
engineered organisms.
This raises an obvious question for those of us who prefer food from
nature, not from engineering labs: What are we to do about corporate
powers that are so avaricious and arrogant that they're willing to
tamper with our food supply, our kids' minds and our basic consumer
rights? Defeat them, that's what!
Here are three good sources for information and action: JustLabelIt.org, NonGMOShoppingGuide.com and OrganicConsumers.org.
© 2012 Creators Syndicate
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