Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
These concerns regarding GMOs in food production and agriculture
are further magnified by the uncertainty associated with the high speed
and large scale of adoption of GMOs around the world
21
such as the
hazards of potential GMO monocultures, as well as with the rapid devel-
opments in the science and technology of GMOs.
PublicResistance to GMOs
Whereas the introduction of GMOs in food and agriculture engendered
debate around the world, the European public has been the most resis-
tant to the new technology. The difference between the United States
and Europe is especially striking because it is the reverse of the accep-
tance of cigarette smoking on the two sides of the Atlantic. Some
attribute the greater U.S. acceptance to the fact that “Americans per-
ceive farming as yet another industry. ...onparwithcarsorsteel,anddo
not harbor the same sentimental ties and ethical concerns for the preser-
vation of rural life” as Europeans do.
22
Others explain the difference
by pointing to American trust in the government agencies with over-
sight of the GMOs: EPA, FDA, and USDA. The Europeans, accord-
ing to this view, doubt the competence of regulatory agencies, espe-
cially after the recent mad cow disease episode.
23
The differences may
21
Harvey Brooks,
The Typology of Surprises in Technology, Institutions, and Develop-
ment, in International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Development of the Bio-
sphere
325-348, (William C. Clark & R. E. Munn eds., Cambridge University Press
1986).
22
P. Kurzer, Who Steers the Field of Consumer Protection and Environmental Regu-
lations? An American-European Comparison, European Response to Globalization:
Resistance, Adaptation, and Alternatives, 88
Contemporary Studies in Economic and
Financial Analysis
41-63 (2006); See also M. A. Echols, Food safety regulations in
the European Union and the United States: Different Cultures, Different Laws, 4
Columbia Journal of European Law
525-544 (1998).
23
See Bray, F., 2003,
GM Foods: Shared Risks and Global Action, in Risk, Culture, and
Health Inequality
(B. H. Harthhorn & L. Oaks eds., Praeger 2003); See also G. P.
Gaskell et. al.,
Worlds apart? Public Opinion in Europe and the USA, in Biotechnology-
the making of a global controversy,
(M. W. Bauer and G. Gaskell eds., Science Museum
