Gabe Lewin seems another wide-eyed apologist for Monsanto and its genetically engineered crops. One needs to be wary of questionable assertions followed by exclamation points.

How long should we give GE foods to show their “unintended consequences”? They entered our food system 15 years ago. A long time! Indeed, no noses have fallen off.

Science gave us Crisco in 1911, and, in the 1960s, touted the virtues of margarine’s partially hydrogenated vegetable oils. It took a lifetime to learn that those oils, now known as trans fats, are, in fact, the surest way to a heart attack.

What if it takes a generation for GE “unintended consequences” to show up? What if the effects are subtle, like increased rates of allergies, autism or infertility? We can’t know whether GE foods are to blame because they are not labeled, so we can’t possibly track their effects.

And those “massive reductions” in pesticides? Only if you prefer your pesticide dose expressed from every cell in every bite of your corn. (You can buy that corn at Walmart right now.)

Reduced herbicides? What about Roundup-resistant weeds? No worries, Dow Chemical is ready with 2-4,D-resistant crops. Just because 2-4,D is an Agent Orange toxin doesn’t mean spraying it on your food is harmful! What you don’t know can’t hurt you, right?

Lewin didn’t mention that in other countries, Monsanto is all for labeling genetically engineered foods. (!) (http://www.monsanto.co.uk/highlights/ads/ad4.html) Perhaps because 50 other nations — including the entire European Union, Japan, Russia, Mexico and China — require labeling (or ban GMOs altogether). They get to know when Monsanto is genetically fiddling with their food, but not Americans. Why is that?

To what extent do biotechnology and industry get to experiment with my food without telling me? To whatever extent suits their needs, as long as it doesn’t look, smell or taste “different”?

Those corporations and individuals who say I shouldn’t know that my food is genetically engineered are those who profit mightily from getting their laboratory concoctions down my throat.

I’d rather just know what’s in my food and make my own decisions about what to eat.

Ann Bistolfo

Davis

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