Biotechnology in food

REG MITCHELL's defence of ``Frankenfoods'' -- genetically engineered (GE)farm products -- in his Oct. 9 article ``So-called Frankenfoods have no more pathogens than are found in nature'' is a repetition of the mantra we hear daily from the global corporations that dominate agricultural biotechnology. His principal point seems to be that since life abounds with risks of various kinds (cancer-inducing elements in the environment, the risk of being hit by a truck) we shouldn't be …

…is the impact of genetic engineering on modern farming. The products of GE require high-input, high-capital operations, and are designed to facilitate large-scale, continuous-cropping monocultures. This is the antithesis of sustainable agriculture in which crop rotations, maintenance of soil structure and fertility, and natural pest-control methods are valued. Biotechnology in agriculture is, of course, the opposite of organic agriculture, and public concerns about it will speed the already phenomenal increase in demand for organic produce.