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The world of modern agriculture is ever changing. We have been purchasing, for longer than we may know, a new variety of the same old vegetable. These plants that become our food are, in some ways, stronger and "smarter" than any conventional species. They are armed with new defenses against unwanted predation. They are protected from diseases that have bothered their species for centuries. They are already replacing many long used modern technologies. These new breeds are no miracle, however. They are the result of our highly ambitious scientific community and its interests in developing genetic engineering. The intensively studied science of genetic manipulation is both feared and loved by the world’s people. Its power is immense and promising but it is an infant science, and is therefore a looming and unknown force. It entered our lives silently, and even now we purchase the product unaware of its highly unusual origin. These are reasons why genetically modified crops scare and worry the public. However, the practice of modifying food does have its endearing qualities. If people don’t know about them, or much else about biotech foods, for that matter, it is understandable that they would be cautious. No one wants to eat his or her food without knowing what else is in it. Genetic engineered food is hailed by the Biotech industry as a new, better way of growing food, that will allow farms to produce more food, thereby helping to feed the hungry. They also state that they make food healthier, and more convenient for a farmer to use by eliminating the need for certain inputs. These new breeds are substantially different than their organic counterparts, and may contain materials not present in any natural plant. When we buy them, however, we are sold on the companies’ claims of; nothing at all. Genetically altered food is not labeled as such, and is sold in the same fashion that normal vegetables are sold. Michael Pollan, in "Playing God in the Garden", an excerpt his book on agriculture, "The Botany of Desire", shares his experiences and opinions on biotechnology, along with those of several others. He speaks about the biotech companies, saying, "the industry has succeeded in depicting these plants simultaneously as the linchpins of a biological revolution—part of a "new agricultural paradigm" that will make farming more sustainable, feed the world and improve health and nutrition—and, oddly enough, as the same old stuff…" [Pollan, 507] If genetically engineered vegetables are indeed as amazingly beneficial to our agricultural system as the companies that engineer them claim, then why do we hear nothing about it once the products reach us?
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