I teach a continuing education course called “Agriculture for Realtors”.  It’s a three-hour course that I developed last year as part of the continuing education requirements for Ontario Realtors.  In this course I have a section on genetically modified crops.  It’s a short section because most people don’t care about it anymore.  It might be Franken-food we’re eating here in Canada but nobody seems too much care as long as it’s cheap.

So when I recently read about genetically modified salmon coming to the US market, my interest was piqued.  I think when you mentioned genetic modification with regard to field crops North American eyes glaze over.  In our society people don’t much care about how food gets to the dinner table as long as it’s cheap and plentiful.  That it might glow in the dark is of no concern to anybody on this side of the Atlantic.  However, when I heard about the possible introduction of genetically modified salmon into the food chain something kept telling me I was hearing alarm bells.  If genetically modified salmon is just around the corner what about genetically modified pigs and genetically modified beef cattle?  Then how about genetically modified humans?  My speculation was running wild.

If you have not heard a Prince Edward Island company called Aqua Bounty technologies has been waiting for 11 years before the Food and Drug Administration in the United States to render a decision on getting genetically modified salmon on American dinner plates.  On September 20th in Maryland recommendations will be released at a public meeting.  According to a report from CBC news, the EPA’s veterinary medical advisory committee is reviewing food safety and the potential environmental impact of genetically modified salmon escaping and breeding with wild Atlantic salmon.

The FDA had previously released documents saying that the genetically modified salmon would be safe to eat.  Meanwhile there have been all kinds of environmental and food groups rise up in opposition to genetically modified salmon.  The salmon are not Roundup Ready soybeans.  Several genes have been added to make the salmon grow twice as fast as it would normally.  So in the modern bio-technological tradition it means big corporations will probably get richer from this genetic modification and that’s about it.

Answer me this question.  Why does our world need genetically modified salmon?  Sure, you can raise it twice as fast as other salmon meaning somebody should be making a lot more money.  Some believers might even think that would make salmon even cheaper than it is now.  I cannot see any sound reason that our world needs this.  What need is it filling within the insatiable appetite of consumers?  Do consumers yearn for genetic modification in their salmon?  Or does the genetic modification within the salmon give obvious health effects of eating fish an even bigger boost?   I dunno.

I don’t know enough about this to give you a good answer.  At first glance I don’t see any redeeming value to genetic modification in salmon unless there is some type of therapeutic functional purpose to eating genetically modified fish.  In other words if this genetic modification had some type of enhanced carcinogenic fighting qualities to it I think the world would be cheering.  In fact I think if any of our genetically modified food had any redeeming health value it would be a very good thing.  Regrettably, I don’t think that’s the case in any of this.  I think it’s all about money and big corporate hands and not much else.

Keep in mind that my hands glow in the dark.  They glow-in-the-dark because every year I grow genetically modified crops in my fields.  I also sit down in the morning and eat some raisin bran, which contains much genetic modification.  I usually spread some type of soybean-based margarine on my toast, which means there is more genetic modification.  I long gave up doughnuts at Tim Horton’s but if I fall off the wagon that would be even more genetic modification.  So I have been down this trail many times and if genetically modified salmon is anything like genetically modified agriculture consumers are not going to win.  At the end of the day I would imagine the best argument for genetically modified food is simply to keep it cheap in North America.

Apparently 90% of these genetically modified salmon are sterile and are raised in tanks on land.  They are fed pellets by hand and therefore if they mixed in the wild they would have difficulty surviving.  That is according to the CBC report.  Imagine if you were one of those genetically modified salmon?  Can anybody say slippery slope?  I think so. What is the world coming to?