[LEMONS] 11.29.2001
Genetically modified food, I've given up worrying about it and filed it under my "inevitable" category along with treasonous graft-prone Republicans and boy bands (both of which, come to think of it, are closely related). Fuck it, pass the fishberries. I'm ready to dig in. Because, you know, with all the other things in the world to worry about--John Ashcroft and Bush eliminating the Bill of Rights, for example--who really gives a damn about health? Besides, The Companies and The FDA (a captive regulatory agency if ever there was one) have assured us that GMO food is perfectly safe. They've said it again and again, "it's safe."
"Well have you tested it to make sure that it is safe?"
"No, but don't worry about that, it's safe."
"What about all those independent studies, which are essentially the only testing htat's been done to determine if it's safe or not, that have all concluded that it isn't safe?"
"All done by wackos. It's safe."
"The folks at Lancet are Wackos? Lancet?"
"Most assuredly wackos. Who knows best, scientists, or businessmen? It's safe."
And so you accept that it's safe, or you at least delude yourself into not worrying about it and you thank God that it can't jump species, that GM organisms are restrained and can't get out into the wild. How do we know that? Well, because Monsanto and ADM and all the rest assure us that it is so. Just as they assure us that the food is safe, just as passionately and with even more gravitas, they tell us that the crops can't jump species. But there's just one problem: they can. Are you ready to start freaking out? No? Are you sure? Of course you're sure. Why?
"It's safe."
I'm sure it is.
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