An MAQ Innovation

• Published in: Medical anthropology quarterly 2001-03, Vol.15 (1), p.3-8
• Main Author: Marshall, Mac
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Anthropologists; Anthropology; Attention; Biotechnology; Citizens; Conversation; Corn; Corporations; Crop economics; Debates; Defense; Drama; Editorial; Editorials; Food; Food crops; Food supply; Food systems; Food Technology; Genetic Engineering; Genetically altered foods; Genetically modified foods; Government agencies; Human genetics; Humans; Interprofessional Relations; Medical anthropology; Medical genetics; Medicine; Multinational corporations; Natural environment; Organisms; Public Health; Research - trends; Sociology; Transgenic plants; Transnationalism
• ISSN: 0745-5194; 1548-1387
• DOI: 10.1525/maq.2001.15.1.3

[...]a major aspect of biotechnology much in the news of late has gone largely unexplored by medical anthropologists: the potential impact on human health and the natural environment of genetically engineered (GE) or genetically modified (GM) foods.2 With a goal of stimulating greater attention to this topic, for this inaugural "conversation in print" I invited Anne Murcott, Professor of the Sociology of Health at South Bank University in London, U.K., to prepare an article based on her GM food research. Estimates are that approximately twothirds of processed foods-some 30,000 products-ranging from cereals and soybased baby formula to soft drinks and ice cream contain GM ingredients (Environmental Defense 2000a; Pollack 2000a; Schulz 2000). [...]China was the first country to grow such "crops commercially, starting with virus-resistant tobacco plants in northeastern Liaoning Province in 1988. Since 1997, Beijing has approved the release of more than 100 genetically altered crops, double the number released in the United States" (Smith 2000: The cast of actors in this emergent play includes transnational corporations (TNC) that have developed GM foods,4' other large corporations that process and sell food,5 and government agencies in many different countries.6 Interacting with government and business is an array of environmental organizations and numerous groups that target one or the other side of the GM food debate.7,8 I As with any politically volatile issue, these various groups compete for the public's attention and support via the media and lobby for government decisions and actions favorable to their point of view.