Food, inc: Mendel to Monsanto--the promises and perils of the biotech harvest

For most people the global war over genetically modified foods is a distant and confusing one. A handful of corporate 'life sciences' giants, such as Monsanto, are pitted against a worldwide network of anticorporate ecowarriors like Greenpeace. The companies claim to be leading a new agricultural revolution that will save the world with crops modified to survive frost, drought, pests, and plague. The greens warn that 'playing God' with plant genes is dangerous. It could create new allergies, upset ecosystems, destroy biodiversity, and produce uncontrollable mutations. In FOOD, INC., acclaimed journalist Peter Pringle shows how both sides in this overheated conflict have made false promises, engaged in propaganda science, and indulged in fear-mongering. In this urgent dispatch, he suggests that a fertile partnership between consumers, corporations, scientists, and farmers could still allow the biotech harvest to reach its full potential in helping to overcome the problem of world hunger, providing nutritious food and keeping the environment healthy.