“Chalk one up for science,” The Florida Times-Union declares. “The dispute over genetically modified foods must be considered over.”
With the Environmental Protection Agency expressing confidence that genetically improved foods are safe and healthy, and the European Union declaring that they are “even safer than conventional plants and foods,” the food fight has been won by the advocates of consumer choice. “Even Patrick Moore, co-founder of Greenpeace, reportedly has said ‘the campaign of fear now being waged against genetic modification is based largely on fantasy and a complete lack of respect for science and logic.'” The Times-Union concludes: “Those on the radical environmentalist side should be waving white flags.”
No such luck. Though the factual battle’s lost, the anti-choice partisans are still lobbing scare-bombs in their PR campaign — and that can go on indefinitely. “Consumers are asking about genetically engineered foods all the time,” David Wilder tells The San Antonio Express-News. “The problem is identifying the foods with these ingredients.” No, the problem is citing sources with profit motives. Wilder is marketing director of the city’s Whole Foods Market — an organic chain that makes big bucks off anti-biotech fearmongering.
