Biotech Foods - Is the Genie Out of the Bottle?

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More than 100 million acres of the world's best farmland have already been planted with genetically modified crops. Wind blown pollen, commingled seeds, and a black market guarantee further spread. In the US, the appearance of products containing a modified corn approved only for animals has prompted hundreds of recalls. Despite reassurances of safety, there are widening protests over such genetically modified crops. We discuss genetically altered food, its role in an increasingly hungry world, and concerns about tampering with nature, with the bio-food industry and its critics. Newsmaker: Test Bombing in Vieques, Puerto Rico, to End - President Bush has announced that the Navy will end bombing exercises on Vieques Island, off the coast of Puerto Rico, by May, 2003. Frank Gafnee, of the Center for Security Policy, discusses the political and national security implications of the President's decision, and the fallacy of a singular Latino response. Reporter's Notebook: On Fridays, Guatemalans Mourn Their Country's Plight - Last week in Guatemala, three soldiers were convicted of killing a Catholic bishop, but that doesn't mean the country is now subject to the rule of law. Juan Carlos Llorca, reporter for El Peri-dico, laments that taxes, violence and governmental corruption still plague his country.
More than 100 million acres of the world's best farmland have already been planted with genetically modified crops. Wind blown pollen, commingled seeds, and a black market guarantee further spread. In the US, the appearance of products containing a modified corn approved only for animals has prompted hundreds of recalls. Despite reassurances of safety, there are widening protests over such genetically modified crops. We discuss genetically altered food, its role in an increasingly hungry world, and concerns about tampering with nature, with the bio-food industry and its critics.
  • Newsmaker: Test Bombing in Vieques, Puerto Rico, to End - President Bush has announced that the Navy will end bombing exercises on Vieques Island, off the coast of Puerto Rico, by May, 2003. Frank Gafnee, of the Center for Security Policy, discusses the political and national security implications of the President's decision, and the fallacy of a singular Latino response.
  • Reporter's Notebook: On Fridays, Guatemalans Mourn Their Country's Plight - Last week in Guatemala, three soldiers were convicted of killing a Catholic bishop, but that doesn't mean the country is now subject to the rule of law. Juan Carlos Llorca, reporter for El Peri-dico, laments that taxes, violence and governmental corruption still plague his country.

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research

Center for Disease Control

Food and Drug Administration

Genetically Engineered Food Alert Coalition

Iowa Grain Quality Initiative

Monsanto

National Environmental Trust

Sasakawa Global 2000

Soil Association

Credits

Host:

Warren Olney