Houston Chronicle | January 10, 2000 | NELSON ANTOSH
U.S. Rep. Charlie Stenholm, D-Stamford, the ranking U.S. Democrat on the House Agriculture Committee was cited as telling the American Farm Bureau Federation's convention here that farmers could lose an important tool because of scare campaigns, which are at their most extreme in Europe, adding, "Folks, we have lost the battle on this one and are in danger of losing the war Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho was quoted as telling the same meeting that, "We got ahead of ourselves American Farm Bureau Federation President Dean Kleckner was cited as noting in his address that several baby food manufacturers have pledged to go natural, as have Japanese breweries and even a pet food maker in the United States, adding that, "Hearing these messages you'd think that processors don't want them, handlers don't want them, retailers don't want them, even dogs and drunks don't want them. We know that's not true, but it seems like that's what is being reported."
To the contrary, he said, someday consumers will seek out products developed through biotechnology and pay a premium for the added value. "Let me predict, that day will be sooner than many of us think."
Thomas Hoban, a professor in the departments of sociology and food science at North Carolina University was cited as saying that surveys show that biotechnology is far down the list of food safety concerns in the United States. In order of importance, these safety concerns are microbial contamination, like salmonella and E. coli; pesticide residues; additives and hormones; and then biotechnology.
Ask people here why they buy the foods they do, said Hoban, and they will say taste, followed by value and nutrition.
Land grant universities should take the lead in educating the public, and farmers can help by not using the terminology "genetically modified organism."
On another front and at a nearby news conference Monday, the Farm Bureau was criticized as being one of the most powerful anti-environmental lobbies in the nation.
A group called Defenders of Wildlife said the bureau has successfully challenged in court the reintroduction of wolves into Yellowstone National Park, although that decision is currently under appeal. If the bureau prevails, wolves will be rounded up from Yellowstone and central Idaho and killed because there is no place to take them, said group President Rodger Schlickeisen.
