The Rural Voice, 1993-12, Page 40A second helping
food system: and
REVIEWED
BY KEITH ROULSTON
Have you ever seen one of those
silhouette drawings that you look at
and you sec a vase, then someone
points out it can also be two faces?
Reading From Land to Mouth —
Understanding the Food System: a
Second Helping by Brewster Kneen
is a bit like that. Kneen takes an
ordinary, every day topic, the
production and delivery of food,
something we're confidently familiar
with, and turns it completely around.
After rcading the book, you're not
sure you'll ever be comfortable in
your convictions again.
The book is an updated 1993
version of his original award-winning
book From Land to Mouth published
in 1989.
This is a book that will make you
mad one way or another. If you
believe the universe is unfolding as it
should in the food system, if you're a
believer in capitalism, free trade, bio -
Book Review
of cynicism about the agriculture and
suggestions about what to do about it
and profitable for processing
companies.
Yet many of the changes the
consumer hasn't asked for. No one,
for instance, has been asking for BST
hormone to increase milk production
which has recently been approved for
use in the U.S. despite a long
battle by family -
operated dairy
enterprises. In fact,
consumer groups have
been arguing that this,
and other biotech-
nological "inventions"
should be labeled as such
so consumers know what
they're getting. The
companies making the
hormone argu:, milk from
BST cows should be treated
just the same as normal milk.
(The same goes for genetically
engineered tomatoes and other
crops).
In fact, the only people likely to
benefit from BST and other
technological "improvements" are the
companies that make them or market
the finished "product".
Genetic engineering and other
biotech innovations lead to demands
for intellectual property rights for the
companies inventing them. They are,
Kneen says, attempts of multinational
companies to get more control of the
food system from seed to shelf.
Andrew Baum, vice-president of
Calgene, the company that has
produced a genetically engineered
tomato, was open about his
company's motives when he was
quoted in the Manitoba Co-operator
earlier this year about the company's
plans for genetically engineered
canola:
"Our objective is to control
production with our partners from the
production of foundation seed to the
sale of the oil to our customers. We
want complete control. The seed
margins don't begin to cover the cost
of investments we've made in the
technology. The way you capture
value-added is selling oil — value-
added oil at a premium to customers,
technology and specialization, you'll
be red-faced before you get through
many pages. If you don't believe all
is well in farming and food
production you'll find plenty to
confirm your fears and make you
downright angry. Either way, you'll
have plenty to chew over on --
those upcoming winter days.
For much of the book LAN
there's a gem on every page:
something that will make you
say "That's right! That's the
way it is!" On page 25, for
instance, he talks about how Ar
the Theology of the Marketsir
Economy makes it immoral•.
to be non-competitive. On ! al 4.
page 26 he talks about how
farmers, their advisers,
suppliers and buyers have all
come to see food as a raw material
for further processing. On page 28 he
points out that "consumer demand" is
often an excuse for further processing
of food that makes it more expensive
V MOUTH
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36 THE RURAL VOICE