Transcript Exploring whether Genetically Modified Foods and

FrankenFoods.com
Exploring whether Genetically Modified Foods and
Organisms are safe for human and animal consumption or
if they are a real and present danger to human beings,
animals, plant life and the environment.
(http://www.frankenfoods.org/)
Frankenstein
 1 : a monstrous creation that usually ruins its originator 2 : a
monster in the shape of a man
 (http://www.frankenfoods.org/)
Food
 1 : material taken into an organism and used for growth,
repair, and vital processes and as a source of energy; also :
organic material produced by green plants and used by them
as food 2 : nourishment in solid form 3 : something that
nourishes, sustains, or supplies <~ for thought>
 (http://www.frankenfoods.org/)
Opposition
Beneficial?
2. Controversial
1.
FRANKENPIG
B. By splicing some genes from mice and E.coli bacteria into
pig genes, a less stinky critter has been created, which is
now trademarked under the sweet name of "Enviropig."
C. It still contaminates the air and water with its excretions, but
you don't notice as much.
D. (http://www.utne.com/2004-0601/frankenfood.aspx?page=2)
A.
Mark Hyman, M.D.
 A recent patient of mine is a food scientist who works for a
large food industry company. His job is to invent and create
new foods in the laboratory by mixing food and chemicals to
create certain tastes and flavors that mimic real food or that
stimulate appetite and satisfy our need for various tastes.
 Think of these as “Frankenfoods.”
 (http://www.ultrawellness.com/blog/frankenfoods)
What is Your Perception?
 3 Comments Opposed and why?
 Confused and why?
 Concerned and why?
Its Frankenfood V. 'The Killer Tomatoes'
 Henry I. Miller
 Salmonella Saintpaul bacteria in raw tomatoes
 More than 160 cases of illness
 2006- E. coli-related illnesses traced to spinach and lettuce
killed three Americans and caused some 300 illnesses.
 Campylobacter, Salmonella and E. coli 0157:H7, and
caliciviruses, also known as the Norwalk and Norwalk-like
viruses
 http://fbae.org/2009/FBAE/website/news_its-
frankenfood-v-the-killer-tomatoes.html
 Produce growers can't give us 100 percent safety
 Americans' food is not only the least expensive, but also the
safest But there are limits Food processors can't be perfect
 No amount of washing will rid all pathogens from produce
Irradiation can be compared to
pasteurization
 Two things are needed for the irradiation process
 A source of radiant energy
 A way to confine that energy. For food irradiation, the
sources are radioisotopes (radioactive materials) and
machines that produce high-energy beams
 http://www.physics.isu.edu/radinf/food.htm#foo
d2
 "If even 50 percent of meat and poultry consumed in the
United States were irradiated, the potential impact of foodborne disease would be a reduction [of] 900,000 cases and
300 deaths,“
 -Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious
Disease Research at the University of Minnesota.
 http://fbae.org/2009/FBAE/website/news_itsfrankenfood-v-the-killer-tomatoes.html
Irradiation
 Effectively kills bacteria and viruses
 Doesn't inactivate the potent toxins secreted by bacteria,
such as staph and botulinum.
 The best answer is recombinant DNA technology, or genesplicing - an advance the organic lobby has repeatedly vilified
and rejected.
 http://fbae.org/2009/FBAE/website/news_itsfrankenfood-v-the-killer-tomatoes.html
Recombinant DNA
 The technology can also make antibodies to be given to
infected patients to neutralize the toxins. And it can produce
therapeutic proteins (such as lactoferrin and lysozyme, which
are found in human tears and breast milk) that are safe and
effective treatments for diarrhea, the primary symptom of
food poisoning.
 (http://fbae.org/2009/FBAE/website/news_itsfrankenfood-v-the-killer-tomatoes.html)
 Will the "attack of the killer tomatoes" move the organic
lobby to rethink its opposition to "Frankenfood" and
irradiation - and let science, common sense and decency
trump ideology?
 http://fbae.org/2009/FBAE/website/news_itsfrankenfood-v-the-killer-tomatoes.html
You Decide
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Should we utilize Irradiation?
Why or Why not?
Do you believe rDNA is the answer?
Are you anti-Frankenfoods?
Are you pro-Frankenfoods?
What do Michael Pollan and Henry I. Miller have in
common?
Are their viewpoints the same?
Are their solutions the same?
What is the answer?
Pro- AGRICULTURE!!!
 Never before has the population in this country been so
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distant from agriculture.
With such a small amount of the workforce making up the
production side of agriculture, many will never throw a bale
of hay or drive a tractor to cultivate land.
With this in mind, what leverage does the media have in
creating agriculture as an enemy?
Why is this?
What is your part?
How can you combat negative stereotypes?