[359] Of the third agricultural revolution

What do I think of genetically engineered food?

After more than a year of thinking, I am still undecided on the issue despite being a green. Another green related issue that I am undecided is the usage of nuclear power. James Lovelock’s supportive statement on nuclear power as a short run solution to the problems brought upon by the six greenhouse gases has not helped me form a concrete opinion for or against nuclear power.

Genetically modified food has the capacity to save millions and possibly a few billions from hunger. Technology has helped revolutionized agricultural sector before the Industrial Revolution and now, we are on the eve of another agricultural revolution, apart of a larger ongoing life science revolution.

The only difference between the last two with today’s revolution is the tools that were and are used.

Back in the 18th century, new techniques of growing crop were discovered. The introduction of machineries helped distribute nutrient better throughout farmlands. Soils were more protected by four field crop rotation. More importantly, this revolution jumpstarted the industrial revolution that forever changed mankind’s course of history.

The second agricultural revolution happened in the mid 20th century with the introduction of fertilizers and pesticides. Output increased greatly thanks to the development done during the Second World War. This revolution introduced to us pesticide; one of them is a chemical known as DDT – the one that persuaded Rachel Carson to write Silent Spring. In the book, she familiarized the public with the idea of food chain and that in turn prepared the world for modern environmental movement.

Now in this new revolution, we are playing with the building blocks of life itself – the proteins that create you and me and all living beings. We are playing God and scarily, we excel at it. In fact, we have managed to create new species of plants and animals for better or for worse, for a greater purpose or for our mere amusement. For instance, fluorescence fish is one of the first ever genetically modified pets in the world. This fish, glow in the dark.

The capability to save millions of lives is the key point presented by the people that believe in GE food. This point is particularly attractive when you are dying from hunger in Africa due to drought, war or any unwelcome situation. The people that believe in GE food are confused by the opposition to such technology. One of the proponents of GE food is the giant biotechnology firm Monsanto of which, according to Wikipedia, controls 70 per cent of the world genetically engineered crop supply.

One of the arguments against GE food is safety. Unlike the effect of pesticide, the effect of GE food is still unknown. It would take several years, or even decades before the effect takes place. Furthermore, some assert that GE plants somehow alter soil composition in a negative way, making the soil less fertile and impedes future food output.

Though people may disagree on a lot of things, in my opinion, the benefits could be seen in the short run, almost immediately, if the distribution system is efficient, which I doubt very much. The ugly side of the story would probably be revealed in the future – nobody knows for sure. It all depends on your investment horizon, as few economists that I have the pleasure of knowing would have called it.

For this lack of information, I will always err on GE issue. But for all I know, I may have eaten some of it unknowingly.

However, cases like the Monsanto versus Schmeiser, a multimillions/billions firm against a small Canadian farmer, tend to force me to side with typical greens even if I disagree with some of the greens.

p/s – Akamai, one of the main players in the World Wide Web, is having a problem. As a result, countless sites such as Yahoo!, CNET, Reuters and Greenpeace going at a very slow pace since late Friday. Sometimes, the page loading process even failed.
Suddenly, the world seems to be slowing down.