Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
enterprises eagerly plant, harvest, and sell GM crops, particularly GM
versions of major commodity crops such as corn, canola, cotton, rice,
soy, and alfalfa, which have been engineered for herbicide tolerance,
pest resistance, and other features that promise increased productivity
and profit.
Firms also produce and market numerous products derived from
GM crops, such as high value oils and ubiquitous food additives such
as the sweetening agent, corn syrup. Companies that produce animal
feed and human food products have increasingly purchased GM crops
and derivative products, and the feed and food industries now sell an
extensive range of products with GM content. Completing the commer-
cial cycle are food retailers, ranging from supermarkets to food service
firms, which sell GM foods to the public, which purchases and consumes
the products with few reservations.
Dedicated opponents have failed to slow this rapid transformation of
the American farming and food systems. Environmental and consumer
safety organizations closely monitor and sound alarms, petition agencies
and challenge regulatory decisions in the courts, and use the media to
project their views, but have failed to stimulate public resistance and
gain more stringent regulations. Although public concerns about food
safety, nutritional quality, and environmental protection are widespread,
they have had no discernible effect on the expanding GM agricultural
enterprise. In addition, the cadre of small farmers who are committed
to growing conventional and organic crops have far less political influ-
ence than the large, industrial-scale firms that are committed to GM
agriculture.
However, the GM enterprise is troubled by several developments.
Claims that GM crops pose environmental risks and contaminate non-
GM crops are increasingly supported by scientific evidence and field
observations. For example, it is now established that “gene flow” from
certain GM crops occurs and infects conventional crops and related
species of wild plants with genetic material that has pesticidal and her-
bicide resistance functions. In addition, there is scientific consensus that
