Sunday, January 13, 2008

No Frankenfood Please

It looks like the EU is thinking about allowing meat from cloned animals into the marketplace like the U.S. I don't think it is such a hot idea but it looks to be inevitable. I do think it needs to be clearly marked as from cloned animals and there should be severe and costly penalties for not doing so. If it is clearly marked then we can let the market decide. Currently, more than 60% of American consumers polled are uncomfortable with the idea of meat from cloned animals.

The real root problem though, like with genetically modified corn and soy and whatever else, is that it takes mother nature and natural selection out of the process. Animals cloned and selected for "food desirables" may be furthering the unnatural selection of undesirable traits. If we become dependent on the cloned animals and haven't allowed natural selection to continue a species then we are setting ourselves up for catastrophic failures when conditions change. If you have ever seen the movie "No Blade of Grass" then you know what I am talking about.

I just hope the movement to organic and sustainable agriculture continues to flourish and makes the market for "frankenfood" impossible sustain. We don't need it.

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