Frankenmyth

The term "frankenfood" conjures the image of evil scientists in

a laboratory creating a fake food to damage the environment or

human health for profit.

It's a lie.

The term "frankenfood" conjures the image of evil scientists in a laboratory creating a fake food to damage the environment or human health for profit.

It's a lie.

In fact, every food you buy in the produce section was engineered by the agriculture industry. Some hundreds of years ago by cross-pollination; others by grafting branches onto different types of fruit trees; and some were created, yes, in laboratories.

The constant tampering with varieties of produce was to create new versions of food that are hardier to grow, better-looking or tastier than the original food.

The same has been done with livestock. Breeding is genetic engineering. It is tinkering with DNA to produce a superior food stock.

The term "wild" used for chinook salmon living in the upper Columbia River is incorrect. It was a constructed term by government officials to designate salmon born in the river system and to appeal to voters in urban Washington. But the Chinook salmon are not native to the upper Columbia River. The original lines were destroyed by a dam near Brewster in the 1920s. The "wild native" salmon today are hybrids of Chinooks imported from Alaska and hatchery salmon.

The controversy over AquAdvantage Salmon is conjured by special interest groups bent on promoting distrust of government and companies rather than accounting for science. Before the engineered fish can be sold for human consumption they must be approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

While evidence shows it is safe to eat and behaves just like the other breeds of salmon, some mainstream media are displaying their bias by siding with the extremist groups in using the term frankenfood.

"Franken-fish for dinner, anyone? Mmmm," wrote a Chicago newspaper.

Food technology is not something to be afraid of; it should be embraced. There is no other way to feed the billions of people living on our planet or the additional billions yet to be born. It was food technology that allowed our ancestors to survive, from the creation of farms to food preservation.

We need food technology. The upcoming generations of food could reduce or eliminate the use of pesticides, or reduce the need for water. They could help cultivate enough food to feed, not just the United States, but countries constantly combating hunger for hundreds of years.

Let's allow for real science to provide the answers to issues about farming. Let's avoid the politics and rhetoric and use some common sense.

We should not let fear nor a catchy phrase determine our use of food science. Because if we do, the people starving are the ones paying the price for it.