The Invasion of GM Food

Recent increases in demand for food products across the world, accompanied by a surge in food price inflation, is likely to lead to further growth in the supply of genetically modified (GM) food. In fact, the move towards GM food is already taking hold in many countries. Currently, countries such as America, Argentina, Brazil, India and China are dominating the global supply of GM food (see The Economist). Continent wise, Europe and Africa are still not keen in joining the wagon, but they will if the current trend of strong growth in food demand continues, putting pressure on conventional method of agriculture.

In principle, genetic engineering of crops so that they become resistant to, say, pesticides and extreme weather conditions (such as drought) should be welcome. However, when one scratches the surface, the underlying issue is more complicated. The main reasons are related to health and environmental consequences of GM food production (see, for instance, greenpeace and the interview with the director of the film The Future of Food (2004)).

Ultimately, the success of GM foods will depend on market demand, provided that consumers are aware of GM foods and that they can easily identify GM food labels from supermarket shelves.