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April 11, 2000
Today, a group of some 30 celebrity chefs from around the United States
will hold a press conference at the high-priced Philadelphia restaurant
Le Bec-Fin, to denounce biotechnology and foods developed with recombinant
DNA techniques. We agricultural scientists are using advanced biotechnologies
to develop more robust and nutritious crop plants for use in the developing
world, and we urge these chefs to reconsider their opposition to such
a promising scientific endeavor.
The patrons of such exclusive restaurants can afford the luxury of forgoing
new crop technologies and paying a premium for their foods. Dinner for
two at Le Bec-Fin can cost hundreds of dollars. But millions of people
in our countries - and more than a billion people around the world - live
on less than a dollar each day. Biotechnology can help in producing more
and better foods in developing countries. But opposition to its use and
boycotts of biotechnology-derived foods will threaten these benefits.
These novel genetic tools offer greater flexibility and precision in
the modification of crop plants. We, and other scientists at our international
agricultural research centers, are developing such products as new rice
varieties fortified with iron and with added beta carotene, sweet potatoes
with enhanced dietary protein, cassava and papaya with built-in resistance
to common plant viruses, bananas that produce vaccines against cholera,
and many others. All of these products are being created specifically
for use in developing countries. But opposition from the industrialized
world can critically damage our ability to use these techniques to help
improve peoples' lives.
Opponents all too often mischaracterize and seem to misunderstand this
work. Years of research shows that the new genetic techniques do not inherently
pose new or heightened risks relative to the modification of organisms
by more traditional methods. Moreover, each new biotech development undergoes
rigorous, extensive, and careful testing for environmental safety and
human health concerns. These techniques represent a powerful and safe
means for the modification of plants and animals. If we remain free to
use these new biotechnologies, they can contribute substantially in enhancing
quality of life by improving agriculture, health care, and the environment.
Yet, this group of celebrity chefs - including Georges Perrier of Le
Bec-Fin, Kevin von Klause of the White Dog Cafe in Philadelphia, Alice
Waters of Chez Panisse in Berkeley, California, Stan Frankenthaler of
Salamander Cafe & Catering in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Matt Costello
of the Dahlia Lounge in Seattle - believes that we should reject these
benefits. They insist upon using only non-biotech foods in their restaurants.
Though we can not oppose their right to make that choice for themselves,
we must take issue with their vocal opposition to our work.
Today, we ask those chefs to reconsider their public denouncement of
biotechnology. We implore them - and other anti-biotechnology activists
- to consider the impact their actions could have on the peoples of the
developing world, to whom we have dedicated our lives' work.
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Channapatna S. Prakash, Ph.D.
Tuskegee University
Tuskegee, Alabama, USA
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Anil Kush, Ph.D.
Indo-American Hybrid Seeds
Bangalore, India
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Swapan K. Datta, Ph.D.
International Rice Research Institute
Manila, Philippines
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Jocelyn Webster, Ph.D.
AfricaBio
Johannesburg, South Africa
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Jennifer A. Thomson
University of Cape Town
Cape Town, South Africa
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Merardo Pujol, Ph.D.
Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology
Havana, Cuba
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Randy A. Hautea, Ph.D.
International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications
Los Banos, Philippines
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