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| Duane A. Lienemann UNL Extension Educator |
When I was teaching agriculture education in the high school ranks I loved challenging my students with topics that could be a little controversial or perhaps even obscure. I would even present a premise that would force the students off dead center and make them respond or at least ask questions or challenge me. It seems that last week’s column served that same purpose. I was amazed at the number of emails, comments and questions I received. I will have to say that the response was overwhelmingly positive but there were a couple that thought I shouldn’t even bring the topic up and that I must be a huge supporter of big ag, factory farms, chemical companies; and I am against organic or natural food producers and no-till methods; and that I don’t care about the consumer and their families --only farmers.
I am of course a big supporter of agriculture, and I, my family and my friends are all consumers - so yes I do care. I will have to admit that I have problems with people referring to our family farmers as “factory farms”. I am not on the payroll of big chemical companies, and I am definitely not against farmers who produce organic or natural foods. In fact I think there is a place for all kinds of production of food - God knows we need it and will especially need it in the years to come when we are destined to help feed, clothe and provide energy for 9 billion people who will inhabit the earth by 2050. I do believe that it is counterproductive and just wrong to denigrate recognized safe agricultural practices of others who think differently than you. I believe that we need choices for our consumers. I also believe that we need biotechnology in the mix to help us along that path. I think it behooves all of us to figure out what’s true and what isn’t in the debate about our food supply.
Unfortunately “debate” is a nice name for what is transpiring concerning genetic engineering and genetic modification. Sometimes it’s more like a melee, a meme-driven, name-calling free-for-all. Hackles, hair and voices are raised. You can envision rotten fruit being thrown. And all kinds of things pass for fact. It’s not just genetic modification. We’re arguing about organic or natural vs conventional, honeybees, chemicals, factory crop farms, factory livestock farms and feedlots, superfish, aquaculture, yields, antibiotics, pesticides, monocrops, soil and water. We hear things like “Frankenfood” used often, which conjures up the thought of monsters we were scared of as kids. Some of these things can be as polarizing as the most difficult social issues; there’s as deep a schism in the food community as there is in Congress. On one side, there’s the insistence that biotech is a great way to help feed a growing population, and the reluctance to admit the shortcomings of agriculture. On the other side, it’s just the opposite. Big Ag is evil incarnate and factory farms are the scourge of the earth – and we must eliminate both. Sometimes we cannot see the forest because of one tree. The consumer is the one that loses!
The challenge is that, too often, real facts are hard to find; evidence has a maddening way of being equivocal. Look at any current issue, scientific or other, and you can cherry-pick evidence to support the position you happen to like. It is a lot like the division we see with politics quite honestly. I don’t believe that this divide in agriculture is healthy for our industry or our consumers. I believe there is an element of people or organizations who disregard science for the furthering of their own agenda and it has nothing to do with human health. My guess is that is more about ideology and their own bottom line. I believe that there are concerned people who run with false science or talking points or take up a cause without studying it thoroughly. What is sad is that we do need the food and fiber and will need bio-technology to provide what we need in the future. I hope people are industrious and curious enough to study both sides of issues and then use true science to decide.
Humans have been genetically modifying food for millennia via the process of artificial selection, selective genetics and hybridization. Biotechnology simply opens new opportunities and allows the modification process to occur quickly and far more accurately. Think of golden rice with high amounts of carotene or Vitamin A for so many people worldwide that depend on rice for food. Think of insulin that so many diabetics depend on that is made available because of genetic modification and insertion of human DNA carrying human insulin genes into bacterium. Or the plus to our farmers with Bt crops and Round-up ready corn and soybeans that have allowed us to drastically cut back on tillage, pesticides and water. Think of the advantages we have created in higher yields and many dry-land farmers love the drought resistant gene corn. All brought to us by genetically modifying what nature has already provided for the benefit of producer and consumer. It is not just the producer who benefits it is the consumer who receives a bountiful and safe food at the lowest price in the world.
The fear of "foreign" genes being inserted into GMOs is misplaced in my opinion. If you think about it crops are grown in soil, which contains millions of species of bacteria. Thus our food, including organic food, is covered with bacteria. Yet nobody thinks twice about this foreign DNA that we regularly consume on a daily basis. Oh I know there are some stumbling blocks like Round-up Resistant weeds that are becoming a collateral problem as are some beneficial insects that succumb to Bt technology. Or the way that farming is increasingly practiced now -- where one or two crops are grown on huge swaths of land -- biological diversity is sacrificed for short-term profits. It along with high commodity prices has also resulted in the loss of a lot of native pasture land which I think we will come to regret. I just encourage people to study the science of GMO’s and avoid the discourse on blogs and internet posting where they just look at one side of the issue. Please offer up thanks for all our bounty and enjoy that turkey and other foods that are likely genetically modified, which as such has been safely consumed for many years - without incident or proven health calamity. Happy Thanksgiving ever one!
The preceding information comes from the research and personal observations of the writer which may or may not reflect the views of UNL or UNL Extension. For more further information on these or other topics contact D. A. Lienemann, UNL Extension Educator for Webster County in Red Cloud, (402) 746-3417 or email to: dlienemann2@unl.edu or go to the website at: http://www.webster.unl.edu/home
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