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- Enhanced food is answer to food security
This story is from February 20, 2006
Enhanced food is answer to food security
Saying 'no' to tech-enhanced food is tantamount to rejecting technology per se.
Saying 'no' to tech-enhanced food is tantamount to rejecting technology per se. Technology by itself cannot be good or bad; only its application can be subject to value judgment.
In its first phase, agricultural biotechnology applications by genetically modifying crops to have weed-resistant or pest-resistant properties benefited farmers in the US (where it was first introduced) by repelling insects and controlling weeds.
The success of genetically modified (GM) crops has revolutionised farming practices in the US, significantly reducing the use of harmful pesticides and weedicides that tend to permeate the environment and add to costs and increasing yield.
The safety record of the decade-long cultivation and consumption of GM crops in the US vindicates the position of agro-biotechnologists and seed companies that have had to face severe opposition from critics who decry intervention in natural processes.
Babies are made through assisted reproduction techniques, diseases are being overcome and lifespans are being extended through medical intervention, shelf life of perishable foods are being extended through refined refrigeration techniques, even the green revolution of the 60s was the result of human intervention to produce hybrid, higher-yielding varieties.
To move from pest-resistant crops to those that are engineered to produce more nutritious wheat or tomatoes is the next logical step in our endeavour to improve the quality of life through innovation and ingenuity.
Vitamin A enriched rice, transfat-free foods, non-allergenic crops, cancer-fighting tomato and nutritious potato can help alleviate the suffering of millions to whom eating right through choice is not an option.
'Smart' food made available in free midday meal programmes in schools will ensure attendance while helping improve child nutrition. When the ideal like organic food is too expensive, unavailable or difficult to grow, only biotech food can save the day.
In its first phase, agricultural biotechnology applications by genetically modifying crops to have weed-resistant or pest-resistant properties benefited farmers in the US (where it was first introduced) by repelling insects and controlling weeds.
The success of genetically modified (GM) crops has revolutionised farming practices in the US, significantly reducing the use of harmful pesticides and weedicides that tend to permeate the environment and add to costs and increasing yield.
The safety record of the decade-long cultivation and consumption of GM crops in the US vindicates the position of agro-biotechnologists and seed companies that have had to face severe opposition from critics who decry intervention in natural processes.
The non-intervention argument falls flat on its face since intervention is already a ubiquitous part of our lives in almost every sphere.
Babies are made through assisted reproduction techniques, diseases are being overcome and lifespans are being extended through medical intervention, shelf life of perishable foods are being extended through refined refrigeration techniques, even the green revolution of the 60s was the result of human intervention to produce hybrid, higher-yielding varieties.
To move from pest-resistant crops to those that are engineered to produce more nutritious wheat or tomatoes is the next logical step in our endeavour to improve the quality of life through innovation and ingenuity.
Vitamin A enriched rice, transfat-free foods, non-allergenic crops, cancer-fighting tomato and nutritious potato can help alleviate the suffering of millions to whom eating right through choice is not an option.
'Smart' food made available in free midday meal programmes in schools will ensure attendance while helping improve child nutrition. When the ideal like organic food is too expensive, unavailable or difficult to grow, only biotech food can save the day.
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