Consumer Acceptance of Genetically Modified Foods: Traits, Labels, and Diverse Information - Transgenic Horticultural Crops: Challenges and Opportunities - page 197

1998. 7,8 . Since. its. introduction,. the. Rainbow. variety. of. papaya. has. been. used. stra-
tegically.to.create.a.virus-free.ring.as.a.buffer.to.slow.down.the.spread.of.papaya.
ringspot.virus.in.the.Puna.area.and.to.slow.down.or.reduce.resistance.of.consumers.
and/or.some.growers.to.the.new.GE.technology. 7,9 .Papaya.is.the.only.U.S..crop.in.
which. public. sector. scientists. have. pioneered. the. development. of. a. commercially.
successful.GM.crop.variety.
Overall,.the.early.commercial.successes.with.GM.crops.were.not.with.horticul-
tural.crops,.but.rather.with.a.small.set.of.ield.crops..The.most.likely.reason.is.that.
consumers.failed.to.personally.see.enhanced.value.from.many.of.the.new.GM.traits.
that.were.scientiically.possible..In.iber.crops.and.crops.that.are.used.heavily,.but.not.
exclusively,. for. livestock. feed,.consumer.acceptance.was. less.important..However,.
the.image.of.GM.crops.with.consumers.has.been.damaged.by.the.fact.that.new.GM.
products.with.unique.enhanced.consumer.attributes.have.been.slow.to.develop.
NEW DEVELOPMENT OF GM VEGETABLE CROPS
As.transgenic.GM.technology.has.been.developed.and.marketed.for.a.small.set.of.
ield.crops,.a.new.line.of.research.has.recently.emerged.around.intragenic.GM.hor-
ticultural.crops. 10,11 .Prompted.by.continued.consumer.resistance.to.transgenic.food.
crops,.these.new.methods.introduce.new.traits.into.a.crop.variety.by.using.only.DNA.
from.the.same.species,.thereby.yielding.an.“intragenic”.genetic.modiication..This.
research.was.made.possible.by.a.small.set.of.scientists.recognizing.that.a.huge.range.
of.genetic.diversity.exists.within.horticultural.crops.that.have.been.grown.for.a.long.
period. of. time. under. diverse. environments. and. human. needs,. perhaps. in. relative.
isolation..For.example,.major.genetic.diversity.exists.in.potato.and.tomato,.stretching.
from.very.old.primitive.or.landrace.varieties.to.the.modern.commercial.varieties.of.
today..However,.in.the.case.of.the.potato,.inbreeding.depression,.tetraploid.genetics,.
and.clonal.propagation.conspire.to.make.traditional.breeding.dificult.and.slow..By.
taking.a.new.intragenic.bioengineering.approach,.genomic.and.metabolic.pathway.
discoveries.can.be.quickly.introduced.into.established.commercial.varieties.to.fast-
track.the.breeding.process.without.introducing.foreign.DNA.or.antibiotic.markers.
Economists.have.shown.recently.that.consumer.acceptance.of.GM.food.crops.
is. intimately. linked. to. the. type. of. traits. engineered. into. the. crops,. the. types. of.
food.labels.on.retail.food.products,.and.the.information.environment..For.example,.
the. GM. food. market. has. been. subjected. to. diverse. and. conlicting. information,.
and.this.makes.informed.decision.making.by.consumers.and.producers.dificult. 12 .
Although.the.irst.commercial. GM.crop.was.a.horticultural.crop.(the.Flavr-Savr.
tomato).with.“enhanced.consumer.attributes,”.all.of.the.other.commercially.suc-
cessful. GM. crops. in. the. United. States. have. possessed. input. traits—traits. that.
reduce. either. the. cost. of. production. or. the. variance. in. the. cost. of. production. to.
farmers. and,. hence,. have. only. beneited. consumers. to. the. extent. that. they. have.
lowered.food.prices.or.increased.food.availability..Although.Falck-Zepeda.et.al. 13 .
and.Moschini.et.al. 14 .show.that.consumer.surplus.beneits.from.these.technologies.
have.been.sizeable,.these.beneits.have.not.registered.effectively.with.consumers..
With. new. intragenic. potatoes. and. tomatoes. that. are. engineered. for. dramatically.