June 21, 2004
NUTRITION NEWS FOCUS
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Today's Topic: Biotechnology Down on the Farm

The U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization issued a report recently
that urges more widespread use of biotechnology in agriculture.
Farming will have to sustain an additional two billion people over the
next 30 years from an increasingly fragile resource base.  We must
increase yields, decrease costs, protect the environment, address
concerns about food safety and quality, and enhance rural livelihoods.

The report, "The State of Food and Agriculture 2003-04" is available
online at http://www.fao.org/docrep/006/Y5160E/Y5160E00.HTM.

HERE'S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Biotechnology is more
than genetically modified organisms (GMOs).  Traditional breeding can
be sped up dramatically.  Vaccines can be produced better, faster, and
cheaper.  But GMOs are not something to fear.  Based on all the
science available, they represent major advances in agriculture that
will equal the impact of the "green revolution" begun in the 1960's
with conventional plant breeding and the use of fertilizers.  These
developments allow us to feed the population of the planet which has
increased by more than 50 percent in 35 years.