| There are three different kind of process that they use.
1. Genetic modification (GM): This has been around for over 20 years, but not in the EU. It involves adding genes from a different species of plant or even an animal to create new varieties that couldn’t have been made through cross-breeding.
2. Cisgenesis: This is like GM, but uses genes from the same or very closely-related species. The new rules in England allow this if the resulting crop could have been made through traditional cross-breeding.
3. Gene-editing (GE): This is a newer technique that lets scientists target specific genes. The new law lets plant breeders switch these genes on or off by removing a small section of DNA, as long as the resulting crop could have been naturally produced.
Now, you won’t see these GE fruit and veg hitting your local supermarket quite just yet. The technology is still new, and it may take years before these manipulated varieties are on sale.
But make no mistake, this is going to happen.
And as you might expect, I have concerns.
Why this could make your fruit and veg less healthy…
Breeding food crops that have certain desired traits is a traditional approach that has been practiced since the first farmers. It exploits rudimentary genetics to produce crops with specific desirable traits, such as higher yields, better taste, or resistance to pests.
But while it’s true that cross-breeding has made our veggies less bitter and more resilient, it has also made them less nutritious.
As farmers focused on size, appearance, and taste, they inadvertently bred out some of the very nutrients that make fruits and vegetables beneficial for our health.
For example, wild fruits and vegetables often have a more bitter taste due to the presence of phytochemicals – natural compounds with antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and other health-promoting properties.
However, as farmers bred plants for a sweeter, more palatable taste, they gradually reduced the levels of these beneficial compounds.
Another example is the ancient wheat varieties like einkorn and emmer, which have higher protein content and more minerals compared to modern wheat varieties. As the focus shifted towards creating high-yield, disease-resistant strains of wheat, the nutritional content took a back seat.
Furthermore, modern use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and monoculture farming, have contributed to soil depletion, which in turn affects the nutrient content of the crops grown in that soil.
So actually, I’m not too worried about the science of genetic modification itself, but I do wonder if it’ll push us further down this nutritionally detrimental path… potentially causing more harm to our food chain without actually making our food better?
Maybe I’m wrong, and scientists will whip up super greens that are incredibly healthy but taste super bitter.
Who knows?
But there’s an even darker side to this…
Do we want to give our world food supply to a few corporations?
The whole idea of corporations owning genetic lines in our food production system is a bit unsettling to me.
Imagine if one company controlled the supply of tomatoes, soya, or corn worldwide – not the brightest prospect, right?
Corporations owning patents on GM seeds could restrict their use and reproduction by farmers, which could hinder innovation and traditional seed-saving practices.
Moreover, what if these genetic advancements were used to tie farmers into the agribusiness supply chain by allowing the use of agrochemicals only on crops with specific genes?
This would limit farmers’ choices and likely drive up costs.
It makes you wonder about the real motives behind these developments.
What’s more, if a few corporations dominate the GM food market, they might prioritize a limited number of crops and varieties, leading to a further decrease in biodiversity.
This could make our food system even more vulnerable to pests, diseases, and climate change.
Not the direction I believe we should be going in.
What are your thoughts? Let me know and I’ll share some opinions (anonymously if you prefer) in a future Good Life Letter, my email address is ray@goodlifeletter.co.uk |
