For most people, the global war over genetically
modified foods is a distant and confusing one. The
battles are conducted in the mystifying language of
genetics. A handful of corporate "life science" giants,
such as Monsanto, are pitted against a worldwide network
of anticorporate ecowarriors like Greenpeace. And yet
the possible benefits of biotech agriculture to our food
supply are too vital to be left to either partisan. The
companies claim to be leading a new agricultural
revolution that will save the world with crops modified
to survive frost, drought, pests, and plague. The greens
warn that "playing God" with plant genes is dangerous.
It could create new allergies, upset ecosystems, destroy
biodiversity, and produce uncontrollable mutations.
Worst of all, the antibiotech forces say, a single food
conglomerate could end up telling us what to eat. In
Food, Inc., acclaimed journalist Peter Pringle shows how
both sides in this overheated conflict have made false
promises, engaged in propaganda science, and indulged in
fear-mongering. In this urgent dispatch, he suggests
that a fertile partnership between consumers,
corporations, scientists, and farmers could still allow
the biotech harvest to reach its full potential in
helping to overcome the problem of world hunger,
providing nutritious food and keeping the environment
healthy.
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