tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3590966175110441391.post4186350906845194477..comments2023-06-26T03:08:40.549-07:00Comments on Tomorrow's Table: Super-skepticismPamela Ronaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08905736049638342587noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3590966175110441391.post-18701786599010517532008-05-01T10:14:00.000-07:002008-05-01T10:14:00.000-07:00Hi Pam,Congrats from Sagehen Creek on your book re...Hi Pam,<BR/><BR/>Congrats from Sagehen Creek on your book release!<BR/><BR/>There's a really interesting effect here that may be getting buried in the skepticism & paranoia. It seems to me that at least a portion of the resistance to GE is coming from the clash of the marketing of this technology with the values of free markets & freedom of choice. <BR/><BR/>The fact is that the companies marketing GE product have been very dishonest & deceptive about disclosure, perhaps fearing a paranoid backlash, but definitely creating & magnifying it through their efforts to force their products into our diet whether we like it or not. I would point to their intensive lobbying efforts to create legal protection for this secretiveness, & the early appearance of GE in the human food chain without going through proper channels, i.e. the fast-food taco shell incident.<BR/><BR/>Whatever your opinion of GE, this type of deception is seriously distasteful & bypasses the free market & regulatory controls that apply to every other business that contributes to our food supply. <BR/><BR/>Why should the public NOT have the option of choosing to not purchase GE? After all, we can chose NOT to purchase leafy greens without having the leafy-green industry lobbying & sneaking their products into breakfast cereal against our will. <BR/><BR/>It actually seems completely unnecessary to be so obnoxious. In the case of produce, at any rate, it's clear that the majority of the American public will chose the better-looking product of their own accord, even if it doesn't taste as good, & even if it is GE--case in point: the square tomato.<BR/><BR/>If we simply don't like the way these businesses are forcing their products on us, GE or not, how do we express this objection now? Their lobbying has unduly influenced our elected officials, & we can't vote with our dollars either for lack of sufficient information.<BR/><BR/>To me, this is the real threat of GE: the loss of freedom of choice, which results in loss of genetic diversity, & the conversion of the public into unwitting slaves to a demonstrably corrupt industry.Faerthen Felixhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17507365250793350279noreply@blogger.com