Book Summary:
It may be true that we are what we eat. Now, with a flood of genetically modified foods overtaking the market, it is possible to eat what we are. But the prospect of genetic cannibalism is the least of the worries of food activists, and journalist Bill Lambrecht's Dinner at the New Gene Café follows both sides of the genetically modified organism (GMO) debate with vigor. He's been covering the story since the mid-1980s, interviewing agricultural officials, biotech industry executives, family farmers, and protesters to build a comprehensive understanding of the issues. Lambrecht's writing, clear and direct, explains the science and politics plainly enough that even those who flunked Biology or Poli Sci 101 can understand his arguments. He is equally skeptical of the claims of industry shills and activists, and often shakes his head in wonder at the incompetence of government agencies. From academic conferences to the Battle for Seattle, he's seen every aspect of the GMO wars, as they ignited in Europe and slowly spread across the world and eventually penetrated the U.S. Peppered with short essays on his own illegal home experiments with GMO seeds, Dinner at the New Gene Café offers readers insight into a growing question that will most likely define our menu choices for many years to come. --Rob Lightner Biotech companies are racing to alter the genetic building blocks of the worlds food. In the United States, the primary venue for this quiet revolution, the acreage of genetically modified crops has soared from zero to 70 million acres since 1996. More han half of Americas processed grocery productsfrom cornflakes and granola bars to diet drinkscontain genetically altered ingredients. But the U.S., unlike other democratic nations overseas, does not require labeling of modified food.ournalist Bill Lambrecht has covered these issues extensively from the beginning. In Dinner at the New Gene Caf, he lays out the battle lines of the impending collision between a powerful but unproved ?echnology and a gathering resistance from people worried about the safety of genetic change. |