The “Pharming” Challenge - Governing Risk in GM Agriculture - page 199

especially if these products would promise a higher added value. As this
analysis suggests, a higher added value by cultivating pharm crops might,
however, be restricted to a few contract farmers and relatively small
areas. GM crops for PMIs that would be grown on a larger scale might in
fact provide an interesting alternative, if the problem of coexistence can
be solved.
Beyond these complexities there is another issue that deserves partic-
ular attention. Molecular farming sits at the crossroad between “green”
(agricultural) biotechnology and “red” biotechnology (use of genetic
engineering for medical and pharmaceutical purposes). From this setting,
an interesting situation emerges because the public has generally been
more supportive of red biotechnology than green biotechnology. 73 Thus
new lines of reasoning and new value conflicts are expected. There is pre-
liminary evidence from public perception studies that consumers would
be more supportive of PMP or PMI production than of first-generation
GM crops. 74 This crossroad situation is also reflected by a more complex
pattern of policy actors. The molecular farming industry may receive
support from certain growers' and patients' associations, whereas envi-
ronmental and consumer organizations may be supported by the food
and feed industry.
The EU food industry, in particular, will be put on alert. The food
industry and its big retailers in many EU member-states are presently
still struggling to keep first-generation GM crops out of the food sup-
ply and avoid exceeding the labeling threshold to satisfy their GM
73 G. Gaskell, In the Public Eye: Representations of Biotechnology in Europe. in
Biotechnology 1996-2000: The Years of Controversy 53-79 (G. Gaskell & M. Bauer
(Eds.); T. V. Nielsen et al., Traditional Blue andModern Green Resistance, in Biotech-
nology: The Making of a Global Controversy (M. Bauer &G. Gaskell eds., Cambridge
University Press 2002).
74 A. Elbehri, Biopharming and the Food System: Examining the Potential Benefits and
Risks. 8 AgbioForum 18-25 (2005); E. F. Einsiedel & J. Medlock, A Public Consulta-
tion on Plant Molecular Farming, 8 AgbioForum 26-32 (2005); D. D. Kirk & K. Mc-
Intosh, Social Acceptance of Plant Made Vaccines: Indications from a Public Survey.
8 AgbioForum 228-234 (2005).