Yes, let's label all genetically modified foods ("Battle over GMO food labels in its final stages," Jan. 24). Let's begin with common wheat. The crop in those "amber waves of grain," Triticum aestivum, is a genetic hybrid that combined the chromosomes from three different wild species. That happened thousands of years ago.
But it resulted from human intervention. So, all of the flour — including the classic brands that made Minnesota great — will need to be labeled as genetically modified. Along with all of the bread, buns, crackers, breakfast cereals and so forth made from wheat flour.
Next, we will have to label all of the corn — because Zea mays is a far cry genetically from its progenitor, teosinte, domesticated from the wilds of Mexico. Modern corn, too, evolved under human action. So label all of the corn meal, corn cereals and corn tortilla chips. And what about all of the foods that contain high-fructose corn syrup, found on nearly every shelf of the grocery? Those will need to be labeled, too.
From these notable cases, we will have to proceed to most every domesticated crop — their heritable traits changed by humans from their original form in nature. Including nuts and berries. Let's not forget animals, either.
Domestication changed beef and dairy cows from wild cattle (aurochs), pigs from wild boar and chickens from jungle fowl. Genetic modification, it seems, is a normal part of what we eat and has been for millennia.
Should we not also label household dogs and cats, all descended from — and genetically modified from — their wild Canis and Felis ancestors? They are unnatural. Label them.
On the other hand, perhaps genetic modification, by itself, is not a concrete risk?
The image seems frightening initially, because the very words invite us to think that we are tampering illegitimately with some preordained nature. But what matters are the particular effects. Advocates for labeling GM foods never seem to get beyond the raw image of "modification" to the underlying biology. Our public policies should be informed by clear science, not emotions shaped by vague impressions.