The New Science of Food: Facing Up to Our Biotechnology Choices

1
The New Science of FoodFacing Up to Our
Biotechnology Choices

• Prepared by
• Mark Edelman, Iowa State University
• David Patton, Ohio State University
• A Farm Foundation Project
• www.farmfoundation.org

2
The Problem

• Use of biotech tools such as genetic engineering
  in our food has increased dramatically during
  the1990s.
• The new tools of biotechnology transfer genetic
  material from one plant or animal to another to
  create new characteristics.
• Many consumers have not been aware of
  biotechnology in the foods they eat.

3
The Biotech Food Opportunity

• Better food
• More nutritious
• Increased farm productivity
• Improved environment
• Helps solve malnutrition

4
The Potential Uncertainty

• Potential for human health impacts
• Potential for environmental impacts
• Potential contamination and costs for non-biotech
  foods producers
• Long-term impacts difficult costly to assess

5
The Issues

• Involve
• Ethics
• Individual to International Decisions
• Views about humanitarianism
• Economics
• Quality of Life

6
The Challenge

• To reconcile the promise uncertainty
• To decide the incentives and approaches that
  should be used to shape the choices for
• individuals buying food,
• national food policy, and
• the global food system.

7
1 Let Science Enterprise Guide Our Food
System

• Encourage rapid development to
• Feed the world, prevent diseases, make foods
  healthier, improve the environment, and protect
  our food crops from harmful pests.
• Greater incentives for innovation
• Regulatory approval based on science
• by agency experts required tests and
  information supplied by biotech companies.
• Product liability laws help assure safety.

8
Approach 1 What Can Be Done?

• More research on biotech benefits for consumers
  with findings available to public.
• Increase patent rights to reward innovation
  have patents accepted by other nations.
• Adopt science-based food safety standards
  internationally.
• Shorten approval for biotech products if no
  content difference to other approved foods.

9
Approach 1 Potential Benefits
Drawbacks

• Long-term health environment impacts?
• Inadequate disclosure for some people.
• Concentration of control.
• Product liability may not stop contamination.

• Better foods environment.
• Free enterprise incentives rewards.
• Unnecessary costs avoided.
• No evidence of harm to health.

10
Approach 1 A Key Tradeoff

• Increases opportunity to produce healthier foods,
  reduce world hunger, and fight human, animal and
  plant diseases and pests.
• However, costs may increase for non-biotech foods
  and people may remain concerned about the health
  and environmental risks.

11
2 Safety First Protect Our Health
Environment

• Mixing genes not mixed by nature.
• Precautionary principles, extra tests
  independent review before approval.
• If concern, do not proceed until the broader
  scientific community verifies.
• Agencies have broader authority to monitor and
  take quick action to address any problems.

12
Approach 2 What can be done?

• Require verification of public concerns and
  case-by-case testing before approval.
• Require independent testing and review. Biotech
  firms seeking approval currently do most tests.
• Establish independent biotech centers networks
  to improve monitoring and assess health,
  economic, and environmental impacts.
• Alter patent laws for living matter to reduce
  barriers on sharing data, test verification,
  collaboration and future discovery.

13
Approach 2 Potential Benefits
Drawbacks

• Avoid health environ. impacts.
• Better monitoring may prevent harm.
• Access to patent info helps verify test new
  prod.
• Wider access to broader science.

• Unnecessary rise in food prices.
• Delays benefits, discoveries life may be lost.
• Adds politics hurdles.
• Ethical issues not resolved.

14
Approach 2 A Key Tradeoff

• Extra precautions help ensure that all
  consequences are identified before potential harm
  occurs.
• However, more regulation and monitoring may
  increase food costs reduce innovations.

15
3. Encourage Multiple Food Sources Full
Disclosure

• Alternative foods--organic, natural, biotech, and
  conventional non-biotech foods.
• Flexibility to keep future options open.
• Avoid more concentrated control.
• Biotech not likely to decline unless more
  evidence of harm.
• Right to know what is in food methods.
• Benefits and risks may vary by individual/ right
  to protect self apply preferences.

16
Approach 3 What can be done?

• Incentives to encourage a wide variety of foods
  production systems.
• Organize community food systems, networks, new
  ways of marketing food.
• Disclosure labeling provides clearer choices.
  Identity preserved to strengthen monitoring and
  long-term research.
• Strengthen laws to assure competition
  countervailing market power in food system.

17
Approach 3 Potential Benefits
Drawbacks

• More options flexibility for people system.
  
• Disclosure helps track impacts.
• Potentially more assurance.
• Potentially more informed choice.

• Flexibility only for those with ability to pay.
• May not result in healthier, safer, less costly
  food.
• Too much info is confusing.
• Wasted if no food difference.

18
Approach 3 A Key Tradeoff

• Alternatives and disclosure provide opportunity
  for individuals system to make more informed
  choices.
• However, too much information confuses people
  food costs may increase.

19
Let the Deliberation Begin.