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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
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 OPINION 
2

Want to Save the Planet? Stop Dumping on Frankenfood

Genetically modified products fight pollution

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(Newser) – It's time for greenies to take another look at the frankenfoods they've been campaigning against. Consider the enviropig. It’s a pig with an extra gene that means less phosphorous in manure runoff, and it’s just one example of how genetic modification in agriculture can be good for the environment, writes James E. McWilliams in Slate. Another is the new grass that reduces the methane emissions from the cows that munch it.

“Given the potential of these products to reduce the environmental impact of farming, it's ironic that traditional advocates for sustainable agriculture have led a successful campaign to blacklist GMOs.” Yes, there are risks from modified foods, but blacklisters are ignoring chances to reduce pollution, writes McWilliams. We can make a fern-based dust that removes heavy metals from soil, and plants that soak up more nitrogen from fertilizer. Time to get on board.

Freshly picked hybrid yellow cherry tomatoes, named Summer Sun, in a greenhouse February 13, 2007 at Moshav Beit Hanan in central Israel.
Freshly picked hybrid yellow cherry tomatoes, named Summer Sun, in a greenhouse February 13, 2007 at Moshav Beit Hanan in central Israel.   (Getty Images)
Greenpeace activists dump rice in front of the Health Ministry during a protest against rice imports from the US containing genetically modified strains in Mexico City, Thursday, March 29, 2007.
Greenpeace activists dump rice in front of the Health Ministry during a protest against rice imports from the US containing genetically modified strains in Mexico City, Thursday, March 29, 2007.   (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)
Oliver Peoples, co-founder of Metabolix, in Cambridge Mass., facility Friday, Aug. 3, 2007, in a greenhouse growing genetically modified switchgrass, which produces an organic, biodegradable plastic.
Oliver Peoples, co-founder of Metabolix, in Cambridge Mass., facility Friday, Aug. 3, 2007, in a greenhouse growing genetically modified switchgrass, which produces an organic, biodegradable plastic.   (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds)
Danilo Ocampo, a genetic engineering campaigner for Greenpeace, peers in between sacks of US long grain rice that made it to the shelves of a high-end supermarket chain in the Philippines.
Danilo Ocampo, a genetic engineering campaigner for Greenpeace, peers in between sacks of US long grain rice that made it to the shelves of a high-end supermarket chain in the Philippines.   (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)
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Demand for these products remains high among farmers—it almost always does—but food producers fear the bad publicity that might come from anti-GMO invective. - James E. McWilliams

When commercial farmers hear about GM grass, increased nitrogen uptake, and cleaner pigs, they're excited. - James E. McWilliams

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2 comments
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riffran
Jan 29, 09 4:37 AM CST
Unfortunately/fortunately.....genetic modifacation, is a Pandoras box...with equal potential for greatness as well as devastation Reply
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radnip
Jan 29, 09 5:20 AM CST
Wanna save the planet? Stop dumping on population control. Reply
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