Biotechnology crucial for future global food security

Feb 22, 2011 10:25:32 PM

According to a recent article in the Des Moines Register, the United States' status as a world leader in biotechnology and genetically modified foods is a very good thing.

The article cites the recent ruling made by the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsak, that genetically modified (GM) alfalfa has the same safety level as traditional alfalfa.

The report states that China, Brazil and India, along with the U.S., are producing crops through biotechnology and that GM foods hold the potential for sustainable food security in the age of increasing climate instability.

Such GM foods are crucial for the developing world, according to the report.

"African countries such as South Africa, Burkina Faso and Egypt have adopted GM crops. Other countries such as Kenya and Tanzania are preparing to start field trials," said the news source.

A recent article in the Sydney Morning Herald titled "GM food tarnished by urban myths," features an argument by University of Adelaide professor of plant physiology, Mark Tester, who believes that the rising global population numbers require a supply of food that is supported through GM biotechnologies.