The New York Times
January 23, 2008
By Verlyn Klinkenborg
Although the FDA recently approved the eventual selling of cloned animal meat and dairy products, the author of this article seems to have personal concerns on eating meat or any other products of cloned animals. The author doesn’t seem to be alone in feeling this way, as the Department of Agriculture has asked farmers to withhold the cloned products to wait until the majority of consumers can get over their “anti-cloning prejudice.” However, the author’s point is not that it is bad for anyone’s health to eat cloned animal meat, but this cloning of animals for consumers will start a trend of uniformity until there is no diversity left in animals, farming, even farmers themselves. The animal breeds not desired would be weeded out because of our own selection, and farmers who have different techniques that don’t involve cloning will obviously be out of work because of the efficiency of cloning is unbeatable. No more diversity of animals (if we don’t need, why breed it?) or farming techniques. And it would basically mean a dead end to all things naturally diverse in the gene pool.
The author’s arguments seem to be very well thought-out and extremely convincing; he/she makes it clear that they do not disagree with progress, or cloning itself, yet there is a point when it doesn’t seem beneficial to the diversity of goods. The line that spoke the loudest to me was when the author mentioned “But the real beneficiaries are the nation’s large meatpacking companies — the kind that would like it best if chickens grew in the shape of nuggets.” Her article made me think of things from the other perspective and wonder, where is the line drawn in this issue? Will the future be a “Brave New World” situation, with uniformity and controlling of the very nature of things? I enjoyed this article mostly because the author’s point was not over-emotional, but it was mentioning all of the really important cons in the situation which affect the consumers and manufacturers of these cloned products.
4 comments:
I also read this article and I enjoyed it as well. I thought you did a very good job summarizing and writing about the author and what he had to say. I hadn't known about this issue until I read the article and I was stunned. I didn't know they were cloning that many animals and even selling that meat. In a way it's good, because the meat industry can make more money, but it also freaks me out a little. The FDA isn't known for putting their seal on the best or highest quality products. I think there's a lot of things they choose to overlook. This worries me that cloned meat will become a mainstream thing and then one day, someone finds out that it's bad for humans to consume it. Other than that, I thought it was a very well thought out and interesting article.
In regards to the cloning:
It's good that the author didn't seem biased about the cloning progression. Most people that argue this subject are completely against cloning and don't even go into great detail about why. I like that the author had an open mind when writing.
I am shocked they are seriously looking into this cloning process for our meat! The article seemed very well written with good factual information to back up what the author was saying. The author seemed to focus a lot on how the meat would become uniform and undiversified; I would have liked to hear more about the economical impacts of this choice.
Great Article. I reasearched this ban the FDA lifted on cloned beef, and what i read was that because a cloned cow will cost about 10,000, compared to a naturally bred cow which cost only about 1,000. And for this economic reason, chances of consumers eating a cloned cow is very slim, for now. the cloned cows will primarily be used for breeding purposes. Personally i wouldn't mind eating a cloned cow, because cloning is supposed to be an exact replica, free of mutation. so if its supposed to be the same as a naturally bred cow, i don't see a problem with it. And anyways we ALL buy or have bought food from food establishments that probably have a filthy kitchen and all kinds of rodent problems. We've all heard the restraunt horror stories. Plus, current FDA laws and restrictions havn't failed me yet, so i have confidence this isn't an unsafe issue.Also, Great Article, and well written Blog summary post.
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