Humans, like
all other animals, obtain the basic materials of life through
food. Some of our food contains DNA of animals, plants, and
micro-organisms. But this DNA is not directly integrated into
our own human genetic make up. Eating genetically modified
food is not likely to change our own genes. Up to 93% of the
human diet is made up of only 29 basic crop species. Human beings
have tried for thousands of years to improve these traits through
selective breeding.
This is a type of genetic engineering but
the range of genes available to the breeder is mostly restricted
to those which have evolved naturally within the same species or
a closely related one. The first reason one would wish to apply
genetic engineering to agricultural and food production is to
improve production. Safety and environmental factors are putting
limits on the substantial chemical inputs to
make a growth in agricultural efficiency and combat pests, weeds,
and disease. Yet there still is immense pressures on farmers
to decrease overheads to respond to global competition in the
production of food. Because of the world's expanding population,
genetic engineering could be used to improve the yield and growth
rate from crops and this will feed more people from the
available land. However, this is not as easy as it seems. It
works very well for some species of plants, but not others.
In theory it may be possible to develop genetically modified
plants to be more resistant to the varieties of climate, to
grow on marginal land prone to drought, erosion, high salt content,
or acid conditions. Potentially this could greatly assist food
production in vulnerable areas of the world where agriculture is
on the margins of viability. Unfortunately this is a very
difficult process. Although there are some Third World
examples, to date most of the research in this area seems to be
directed not to developing country situations but to western crop
agriculture.
A large amount of food is currently lost by damage or degradation
during transport and storage. The main advantages are production
convenience and a slightly cheaper price. The "need"
for such products is partly a function of our
centralized supermarket production system obtaining food from
wherever it is cheapest, often at considerable distances. It also
reflects consumer expectations, largely created by the
supermarket system, for having out-of-season fruits and
vegetables from anywhere in the world, and for high grade
appearance, instead of basing our food on what is available from
locally grown produce.