Designer Food: Mutant Harvest or Breadbasket for the World? - Hardcover

Gregory Pence is a medical ethicist with twenty years of experience reviewing significant cases in bioethics, and is professor in the School of Medicine and the Department of Philosophy at the University of Alabama. Pence has contributed to the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, and the Journal of the American Medical Association. He is the author of Classical Cases in Medical Ethics: Accounts of the Cases that Shaped Medical Ethics, 3rd edition (2000) and Who's Afraid of Human Cloning? (1998).

Professor Pence has done a masterful job in telling the story of the controversy over genetically modified food, poignantly painting the views of diverse actors and analyzing the underlying philosophies of their arguments. And yet, Designer Food is more than a treatise on the debate―it furthers an argument on the future of food on this planet, and how we are to go about ensuring its access to everyone. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to better understand the current debate on genetically modified food. (C. S. Prakash, director, Center for Plant Biotechnology Research, Tuskegee University)

Designer Food is a timely, well-written narrative describing the ongoing heated debate about assuring the world adequate sustainable food production without hurting the environment or wildlife habitats. Pence argues convincingly for the development of improved crops by genetic engineering. (Norman E. Borlaug, 1970 Nobel Prize winner and Distinguished Professor, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Texas A&M University)

"The issue of genetically modified food (GMF) is creating an hysterical anti-scientific phobia in Europe, and it threatens to create a similar furor in the U.S.A., as deep ecologists and naturalists like Jeremy Rifkin frighten the public about the dangers of GMF. In Designer Food, Pence offers an impartial, philosophical examination of the issues that is well-researched and well-argued. The work is a significant contribution to the fields of biological and agricultural ethics . . . and a true pleasure to read." (Louis Pojman, US Military Academy at West Point)

A well-rounded survey of a host of issues relating to food safety. (The Bookwatch)

Overall the book is very current and diverse in its coverage...The author does a good job of presenting both pros and cons (Allan Zipf Science Books and Films)

A thought-provoking survey and commentary on the subject of genetically modified food. A wealth of research and a close eye on important factors in the debate such as world hunger, and the right to know just what is being eaten, makes Designer Food a superbly organized and highly recommended resource for anyone seeking to learn more about the double-edged sword of these recent, controversial, and rapidly advancing technologies in food science and production. (Library Bookwatch)

'Designer Food' should obligatory reading for all involved in the genetic modification (GM) debate.This is a well-balanced, easy-to-read text that will be enjoyed by scientists and general public alike. (Experimental Agriculture)

Genetically modified (GM) food is a hotly debated issue. Much of the opposition to GM food revolves around its safety claims. To sort facts from hype, debaters need to be informed, and this book is the best to date for that purpose. The author is fair and scholarly. (CHOICE)

This is a meaningful synthesis of the opinions and views surrounding GM food and crop issues. The book provides for students, academics and the public, a thoughtful and practical expose of one of the most controversial topics in current affairs. (Journal Of Agricultural Science)

Much of the intellectual spadework here is done to give the reader a clear background on the origins of mad cow disease, the Star-Link corn controversy, and the cultural and political reasons driving European resistance to biotech crops. The book provides a view that is underrepresented in the philosophical and popular literature on the subject. (Ethics: An International Journal of Social, Political, and Legal Philosophy)