September 29, 1999
Program on genetically engineered foods set for Thursday
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
It was a head-turning lunch-hour parade Monday on Front Street as two mutants shuffled along the sidewalks, wowing passerby.
No, Halloween was not visiting Traverse City a month early. The Flounder-Tomato and Turkey-Potato walking around were two employees of Oryana Food Co-Operative, wearing their Frankenstein costumes to raise awareness of the upcoming program on genetic engineering scheduled for Thursday evening at the City Opera House.
Billed as 'The New Frankenfoods, Are They Safe?' the program is sponsored by 11 area groups and natural food suppliers, including Oryana, Edson Farms, the Michigan Land Use Institute, Organic Growers of Michigan and Food for Thought. The speaker will be Ronnie Cummins, director of the National Campaign for Food Safety, who has written and spoken about genetic engineering around the world.
The National Campaign for Food Safety has documented more than four dozen genetically engineered foods and crops being grown or sold in the United States. Combined, this accounts for more than 60 million acres of genetically engineered crops under cultivation. Opponents are concerned about ???
"There was never a discussion about whether we wanted genetically modified foods or not," said Sandi McArthur, the bulk food buyer at Oryana Food Co-Operative who doubled as the Turkey-Potato for the day. "Now, several years later after all these foods are in the marketplace, we are finally discussing it. Our food supply is the guinea pig and we can't afford to sacrifice it."
Genetic engineering is hailed as either Frankenstein's revenge or the savior of starving masses. The issue does nothing if not inspire passionate debate. The thought of merging the genes of salmon and humans, tomatoes and flounder or moths and corn, and having these products arrive, unlabeled, on grocery store shelves sets off a visceral reaction in many people.
"I don't know much about it but I think it is wrong," said Linda Heika, a city resident shopping at Oryana Food Co-Operative Monday. "I am just starting to learn about the issue and I want to learn more."
Europe has strict standards against genetically engineered foods and studies there contradict studies showing the positive, harmless effects of these modified foods.
"It is so weird that there are flounder genes in tomatoes," said Barb Newinski, a long-time Oryana shopper who is interested in this issue. "We should wake up, the Europeans are totally against this. I think people are aware of it but we need to reach out and make our voices heard."
Not everyone believes genetic engineering to be a potential scourge of mankind. To Dr. Rebecca Grumet, professor of Horticulture at Michigan State University, the debate raging about genetic engineering can be grounded in scientific principles.
Grumet noted that since humans began cultivating crops they have selected seed for replanting, encouraging the best strains and discouraging weak ones. For the past 100 years, science has been involved in the process, actively developing new plants and crossbreeding for certain characteristics, such as resistance to disease or a larger or seedless product.
Genetic engineering is just another step, she said, taking one single gene or a few genes and adding it to an existing plant strain to achieve a specific result. She looks at genetic engineering in the broader context of how do agriculturists improve crop results in general, just another tool for them to use.
"There are risks in either case, traditional plant engineering or genetic engineering," Grumet noted. "This is not to say we don't need to think carefully about genetic engineering. I think we need to look at each gene and evaluate it carefully asking, 'Is there a potential problem and what can we do with it?' But the benefits can outweigh the risks."