[quote=Shadowfax]There is a difference between 1) cross polinating or animal husbandry (which I have always thought a strange term) and 2) genetic modification of foods–the former might occur in response to “natural” stimuli (and not always with beneficial results), the latter is the forced cross breeding of plants that might not be otherwise compatible, perhaps for very good reasons. We won’t know for sure for decades. We just aren’t very good at projections in this area.[/quote]

True. The point I wanted to make is that people have a tendency to dismiss genetic modification offhand as something evil. Most of them do not realize that most food that they eat is already genetically modified by our forefathers through the process of hybridization (of course, in a natural way).

Then there is concern about GM crops contaminating non-GM crops. Somewhere in my head I imagine a wheat farmer of 20000BC who only plants “natural” wheat and worries that his crop will be contaminated by Durum variety….

When I was growing up, certain hybrid crops were introduced for the first time in my country. I remember people passionately arguing that (a) they don’t test good and (b) they are not good for health.