| INTRODUCTION | REFERENCE | PERIODICAL ARTICLES | NON-PRINT |
| TOPIC ANALYSIS | BOOKS | INTERNET SOURCES | REVIEW |
"What is food to one man may be fierce poison to others. " by
Lucretius. 95-55 B.C. Bartlett, John 1901. Familiar Quotations
Many people are apprehensive about Genetically Engineered Foods ( G. E. Foods). Consumer protests and anti-biotech organizations have influenced the local and global marketing of G.E. Foods, and enacted legislation for labeling foods containing them. Farmers who were once promised sales of their G.E. crops are now left wondering who will buy them. Europe has passed laws against the importation of G.E. foods. The laws passed in Europe affect global sales in the billions of dollars for the United States. Many groups and organizations have stepped forward to raise awareness and to gather support for legislation for the labeling of G. E. foods. The corporations these groups are up against have strong influences over the legislation (or lack thereof) of G.E. foods in this country. The USDA and the FDA have been slack in their regulation of these crops, and rely on research done by the companies interesed in promoting them.
Consumers have the right to know which companies are buying and selling G.E. foods and which companies are refusing to use them . Though some legislation has been started for the labeling of G.E. goods nothing is in place yet. These foods have been used in our in our food supply since 1996, yet public awareness is low.
It is my intent to help point the way to those who would like to curtail the growing and selling of G.E. foods, and support their efforts in passing legislation for the labeling of G. E. Foods.
Founded in 1983. 1,000 members. Monitors and analyses the biotechnology industry… areas of interest include genetically engineered food.
Barboza, David. “Farmers Are Scaling Back Genetically Altered Crops.”
New York Times. 01 Apr. 2000, eastern ed.: A6.
"Genetic Modification of Plants." Encyclopedia of Science and Technology
8th ed. 1997.
Here is an article on the genetic modification of plants. "once genes useful for crop improvement have been identified, cloned, and stably inserted into the plant genome it may be possible to engineer plants resistant to environmental stress, to pests, and pathogens."
“Transgenic Plants.” Encyclopedia Americana. International Ed. 2000.
Here is an article about transgenic plants and the Monsanto company who was the first to succeed "in putting a gene for resistance to the antibiotic kanamycin into tobacco plants. These transgenic plants were the first of what was to become a continually increasing number of genetically engineered agricultural and horticultural organisms."
Ticciati, Laura, and Robin Ticciati. Genetically Engineered Foods.
Los Angeles: Keats, 1998.
Laura Ticciati is the founder and Executive Director of Mothers for Natural Law an organization that has established a relationship with scientists, consumers, responsible business leaders and the press all over the country. Robin Ticciati, has a PhD. in mathematics from Harvard, and has written on the ethical responsibility of scientists and the impact of science and technology on society. Together in this book they explore the concerns of genetically engineered foods and the potential dangers to our health and environment.
Rissler, Jane, and Margaret Mellon. The Ecological Risks of Engineered
Crops. Boston: MIT P, 1996.
Jane Rissler and Margaret Mellon are members of the Union of Concerned Scientists in the U.S. In this book they assess the risks of eroding the diversity of food crops in other parts of the world with U.S. manufactured genetically engineered crops. It is a scientific appraisal, without Green subtext: a useful guide on a complex issue.
Bequette, France. "Mutants on the Menu." UNESCO Courier. Sept. 1998
pp. 10-13. 21 May 2000.
This article in the UNESCO Courier (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) addresses many issues of the war on genetically engineered foods (G.E. food). A short history on G.E. food and its development, patenting of G.E. plants, world hunger issues, and identifying the huge seed corporations and their stake in the global seed market.
Lamb, Marguerite et al. "Brave New Food." Mother Earth News.
Apr.-May 2000: 54-62.
This article in the Mother Earth News covers most of the bases in the genetically engineered food fight. Starting with the WTO protests in Seattle in 1999 it goes on to explore the history of G.E. foods, the outcry in Britain, and global sales concerns. The FDA and the USDA's responsibility for protecting the consumer and governments involvement with corporations manufacturing G.E. crops are also covered. A good overview of a complex subject.]
Ho, Mae-Wan. "Perils amid promises of genetically modified foods."
Greenpeace. Nov. 1996. <http://www.greenpeace.org/~comms/cbio/geperil.htm>.
Dr. Ho addresses the many issues concerning G.M. foods. She tells it from a scientists background for the layman reader. Topics include: World hunger, Convention of Biological Diversity, Herbicide resistant transgenic crops etc. She rejects simplistic assumptions used to promote public understanding, and gives us the contrasts between the Old genetics facts and the New genetic facts. She goes on to define genetic modification and explain the difference between it and conventional breeding.
Weiss, Rick. "Some scientists fear genetically modified plants could pass traits to enemy weeds or kill helpful insects." Campaign for Food Safety. 21 Sept. 1998.
22 May 2000 <http://www.purefood.org/ge/sciFearGe.htm>.
Rick Weiss writes for USA Today. In this article Weiss gives us some basic background on the issues involved around genetically engineered foods. Some of the positive facts about weed and pest control are explored.
U.S. Dept. of Justice The Biosaftey Protocol: What it does and doesn't do.
By David Sandlow. Feb. 11, 2000. 5 June 2000
<http://www.usinfo.state.gov/topical/global/biosafe/>.
On May 26, 2000, sixty-four governments agreed to the Carthage Protocol on Biosaftey. This protocol will regulate international transport of modified organisms. In January of 2000, 130 countries adopted this protocol. One objective of this agreement helps protect the environment. The second would resist proposals that would disrupt world food trade. The U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs explores many points of this complex issue in this article.
I started research for this topic with the broad category of genetic engineering. I found this was too broad a category as it included animal and human research. I narrowed the topic to genetically engineered plants and from there found the term transgenic plants. Under the biotechnology headings I found the term genetically modified food, and used this in my keyword searches.
I found quite a bit of material on web sites and in periodical databases. The periodical databases seemed to be the best source of reliable non- biased information. The websites are generally maintained by groups with a bias either pro or con GM foods. The two books I listed seem to be the main ones for reference at this point and were cited in many of the articles I looked at.
Since GM foods have only been around since about 1995 there isn't much in the encyclopedias that I could find. In further research on this topic I would look for more sites like the one I listed by Dr. Mae-wan Ho a scientist in the field. There are quite a few websites maintained by the companies that manufacture the GM seeds and plants. There are also many organizations against the use of these foods, not just in the U.S. but in Europe, Australia, New Zealand and others.
In conclusion it seems like it's too soon to tell what the risks will be to humans and the environment from GM plants and food. Like many other new technologies only time and more research will finally give us the answers we seek. I hope more people will become aware of the issues involved and lend their support to the organizations that seek to label these foods. If they become a threat to our health and food supply let us tell the industries involved with their manufacture, and our government agencies what we think about GM foods.
Please send comments to Jan Jacobson