The Consumer Federation of America held its National Food Policy conference on April 22 and 23 in Washington, D.C. The topics discussed included bioterrorism and food, food allergies, nutrition labels, irradiation, and functional foods. In addition, one of the sessions focused on the next generation of biotech crops and foods.
During the panel discussion Leonard Gianessi, program director and senior research associate of the National Center for Food and Agricultural Policy (NCFAP), highlighted research his organization collected on biotech food crops that he believes will be in farmers’ hands in the coming years.
These crops include alfalfa and wheat enhanced to tolerate the application of broad-spectrum herbicides that can result in fewer applications of chemicals as well as less topsoil erosion. Soybeans, broccoli, peanuts, and eggplant are being developed to fight insects on their own. Research is also being conducted on raspberries, barley, grapes, apples, grapefruit, sunflowers, peaches, and tomatoes enhanced to be protected from diseases that can kill an entire season’s crop.
Although all these crops and foods may not be available tomorrow, they are anticipated in the near future. Researchers around the country are growing many of these crops in field trials which signals that they have begun the Food and Drug Administration review process. Note: The NCFAP report,Plant Biotechnology: Current and Potential Impact for Improving Pest Management in U.S. Agriculture, was released on June 10, 2002, and is available online at http://www.ncfap.org.
