Starry Wisdom

Driving in to work today I heard a story on NPR about how Monsanto is canceling their latest genetically modified wheat product. This modification to this wheat allows it to be “Roundup Ready” much like their current GM products of soybeans, corn and cotton, so you can spray spray spray the weedkiller and not worry about your crop. The reason they are canceling the product is not because farmers in the US don’t want it, but because millers and such don’t want it. They feel that because bread has such a strong place in our culture that it would be hard for consumers to accept it made from GM wheat flour. Of course, the opinions of farmers and consumers in other countries, where they don’t have enough food aren’t being considered because the farmers there probably don’t have enough cash to buy the Roundup, let alone the Roundup Ready Wheat.

Anyway, at the end of the story the reporter suggested that consumers might be more willing to eat bread made with GM wheat flour if the GM provided direct benefits to the consumer. Examples given where modifications to allow people with gluten intolerance to eat bread made with the flour (although how this would be possible eludes me, as bread without gluten cannot exist!) or, and this was the kicker, modifications to produce low-carb wheat. And that, my friends, is what prompted the title to this post.