Consumer groups and environmentalists are clearly waging a losing battle against genetically modified (GM) crops. If you doubt that assertion, read the chilling (at least to those of us who are still uncomfortable with bioengineered food) cover story about Monsanto in the December 17 issue of BusinessWeek.
In 2003, after losing nearly $2 billion the previous year, the financially struggling company bet its entire stake on a glorious GM future. Today, it sells 90 percent of the genetically modified seeds in the world, either directly or through agents. Between 60 and 70 percent of formulated foods, which are processed foods with more than one ingredient, contain modified components. Virtually all of the soybeans in this country and nearly three-quarters of the corn are GM. Monsanto's profits have soared, shares are up 1000 percent, and Wall Street is still rating the company as a "buy."
A Slippery Slope
Atropine? Butorphanol? Tolazine? Xylazine?
If that list doesn't inspire visions of organic sugarplums, you're right. They are among the nine synthetic drugs that the United States Department of Agriculture added last week to its list of inorganic products that can be administered to USDA certified "organic" livestock.
The elves at the Department have had a very hectic year whittling down organic standards. Just last June, the agency also gave its blessing to 38 non-organic farmed products that could be used in "organic" foods.
Just shows you. When the busy little bureaucrats want to get something done, they can.
Who Will Eat the Last Bluefin?
Before you next clamp a morsel of bluefin tuna sashimi between your chopsticks,
read this post by Carl Safina of the Blue Ocean Institute.
It's a searing condemnation of the bureaucrats who run the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), which has just released catch-limits that are bound to drive the embattled bluefin closer to extinction. One of Safina's more telling suggestions is that the commission should keep its acronym, but change it's name to the International Conspiracy to Catch All Tuna.
And if you're not sure about fish listed on a restaurant's menu? Just take out your cell phone and tap a quick message to the Blue Ocean's new FishPhone, which Ruth Reichl recently wrote about in Gourmet Weekly. In an instant, you'll get a message back telling whether or not you can order with good conscience.
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