It had been a busy day for Marsha Chamberland. She had spent most of it cleaning and running errands in preparation for her brother-in-law Ed's return, and now she was preparing a quick dinner for her family. Ed, an industry official whose job it was to decide whether or not new products needed premarket approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, had spent the last two weeks in Tennessee expressing his views on genetic engineering in food. He had attended a big conference with various members of the FDA, the Department of Health and Human Services, and business officials to determine what guidelines should be enforced regarding the regulation of transgenic foods—a controversial issue between several consumer protection groups and various government agencies. Ed was coming over later for coffee and to visit with the family.
As Marsha began dinner, she realized that in all the commotion she had forgotten to buy tomatoes for the salad. She knew that her daughter Amy would go for her, and so she called her into the kitchen. At
16, Amy had just gotten her driver's license and she jumped at the opportunity to drive anywhere, even if it was just to the grocery store.
About 10 minutes later, Amy returned and handed her mother the grocery bag. Marsha grabbed inside and pulled out a tomato.
"What's this?" she asked, as she began to read the unfamiliar label stuck on the vegetable in her hand.
"It's a tomato, Mom. The kind that Uncle Ed was talking about. The label said that it was grown special through genetic alterations so that it won't spoil or soften."
"Amy, you know how I feel about this," Marsha replied. At 45, Marsha was very conservative and had a general distrust of new technologies.
"Mom, Uncle Ed has told you over and over again that they're safe and, besides, he would want us to support him."
"Well, Uncle Ed is not your mother, is he? And I just can't accept his ideas without proof that they are safe. Now, where is my change?" Amy rummaged in her pocket and handed her mother some coins; considerably less than what Marsha was expecting.
"That's it? I gave you three dollars."
Torn at the Genes:
One Family's Debate Over
Genetically Altered Plants by Jennifer Nelson
University at Buffalo, State University of New York
"They were $2.99 a pound, Mom. Better quality means more money."
"That's another reason why I don't buy them, Amy. Now go get cleaned up for dinner. I guess we'll just have to have plain lettuce with dinner."
"God, Mom, you're being so old-fashioned. Genetically engineered foods are the wave of the future.
Wait until Uncle Ed comes over tonight and I'll ask him. You'll see!"
Ed arrived at the house shortly after dinner and was talking to the entire family about his trip to
Tennessee. The conversation eventually turned to the business side of the trip, as Marsha had feared it would. For some reason, Ed's research had always been a bone of contention among the members of the
Chamberland family. Everyone seemed to have different opinions for different reasons.
At one end of the spectrum there was Amy, who supported her uncle 100%. She wanted to see more genetically altered foods on the market, but Marsha believed that it was only because Amy thought of it as "trendy." It was the cool thing to have—next to a new car, of course.
Marsha's older daughter Karen, on the other hand, strongly opposed her uncle. A college senior, Karen was actively involved in several environmental clubs and organizations. She was against anything that posed a potential threat to the environment and had launched several protests in the past for different environmental concerns.
Marsha's son Brian, also in college, really didn't have an opinion one way or the other. He was argumentative on both sides of the issue and liked to show off his intelligence by questioning everything and everybody.
Finally, there was Marsha's husband James, who didn't really know where he stood on the issue.