The Foundation of Everyone's Security .
New York City, Los Angeles, and a small Arkansas town.What do these geographically and culturally diverse locations have in common? A first glance would lead you to believe they have nothing in common, but after a closer investigation, one common tie can be found. Each location whether metropolitan or rural, is affected by America's leading industry, agriculture. When a family gathers for a Sunday dinner of steak and potatoes, they are reaping the benefits of American farmers. When a vegetarian searches the grocery store isles in search of non-meat products, he or she is facing the effects of American farmers and their agriculture products. In short, American farmers" are responsible for supplying American's with their daily bread baskets. As president George W. Bush stated in a recent forum pertaining to America's nutritional needs, "Food is the foundation of everyone's security." No statement could be truer. .
Although most American's simply run to the grocery store and purchase a loaf of bread or a carton of milk, they do not think about where these products come from or who produced them. As scientific technology is expanding by leaps and bounds, so too has agriculture and the methods used to produce the ever increasing demand for use of farm commodities. The rate at which biotechnology in agriculture has swept the U.S. farmland--and beyond--is simply unbelievable. China alone will plant over a million acres of genetically modified cotton. More than half of Canada's canola crop this year will be genetically modified. .
American crops will also rely largely upon genetically modified crops--90 million acres worth--nearly a third of the country's total farm acreage. Americans now face the question of how far agriculture practices can and will go in order to reach the production ease and accommodated price they are willing to pay for. Bringing genetically modified food to the nation's table has been a reoccurring question in the minds of consumers and farmers alike.
