Shedding Light on Genetically Engineered Food

The evidence is clear and overwhelming: genetically engineered food is big business, a profitable product on the global market, and as a $6.15 billion industry in 2006, its growth and corporate power are undeniable. Despite the United States government and biotechnology industry’s assertion that genetically engineered food is harmless, Americans must question its safety. The truth is that genetically engineered food has never been tested for human consumption. When genetically engineered food was introduced in America more than a decade ago, it was promoted as a solution to some of the world’s food problems; however, the promised advantages have never been realized. Beth H. Harrison, PhD, explores why these crops do not benefit consumers, do not feed the world, do not help the environment, and are not rigorously regulated. Yet the government and the biotechnology industry expend questionable efforts to 'educate' consumers, the media, and politicians with propaganda championing genetically engineered food as safe and necessary. Meanwhile, an unsuspecting public continues to be force-fed untested, unlabeled food that carries potential adverse health effects. Harrison provides a convincing argument as to why American consumers must question the collusion between their government and the biotechnology industry: their health-and yours-depends on it. 3