Health, Safety & the Environment

The New York Times reported today that a movement is underway by industry groups to start labeling food products to ensure that consumers are made aware that the products they are buying are not made from  genetically engineered crops.  Make no mistake.  This is not the work of some radical fringe group.   The organic and natural foods industry is a multi-billion dollar industry that represents an ever-expanding sector of our economy.  Leaving aside, for the moment, the debate over whether higher priced so-called  “natural” and “organic” food is worth the extra bucks (and I admit to enjoy the shopping experience at Whole Foods), what exactly are “genetically engineered” crops.  Can eating “genetically engineering” crops create a virtual “Night of the Living Dead” for the health conscious consumer?  There is a consenus among scientists that genetically modified crops now in cultivation are safe to eat.  This is worth repeating!  There is no known health risk associated with eating food made from genetically modified crops.  Today, farmers use gene-altered seeds to grow much of North America’s corn (85%),  soybeans (91%), canola and sugar.  The genetic modifications benefit farmers by making their crops resistant to insects or the herbicides sprayed to kill weeds.  A lobbying group, Biotechnology Industry Organization, contends that it is important to clarify that the proposed non-GMO (or non-”Genetically Modified Organism”) labeling is to be used for marketing and branding purposes, not to make a statement about food safety.  Biotechnology allows farmers to produce more food on less land at cheaper cost.  Whether your food is “organic” , “super-organic” or now “non-GMO super-organic” is so much marketing  hype to convince us to spend a good deal more on food than otherwise. As a matter of personal choice, I plan to keep purchasing the same healthy “non-organic” food that I have always bought at the supermarket.