The Creepy Factor

The FDA ruled yesterday (January 15, 2008) that food from cloned animals is safe for consumption and therefore can be used toward our food supply.

Logically I know that cloned animals are just animals, and their milk and meat would still be just milk and meat. I get it, but it still makes my skin crawl. In the Department of Agriculture’s defense (did I just write that?) they asked that farmers not sell the products of cloned animals directly into the food supply, instead to only use the food produced by the offspring of said cloned animal. Does that make it cloned milk once removed? Honestly, this wasn’t a huge request on their part because farmers only clone their prized animals as a general rule and because the process is stupidly expensive. And therefore the idea of chopping up Bessie 2.0 for chuck is not all that desirable, instead they’ll save Bessie 2.0 for breeding once Bessie Genuine Draft is too hold or too warn out for all those shenanigans.

What can you expect on your local grocery shelves; the offspring of cows, pigs and goats. No other animal has been approved for consumption worthy clonage. So, don’t worry, your chicken is safe.

Those are the facts, these are the questions. What will this mean for global trade in agriculture? The United States has the rest of the world beat when it comes to slaughtering our livestock and shipping it around the world. Last year there was a major dip in exporting when Japan questioned the safety of US Beef in regard to Mad Cow Disease. It would be careless of the United States not to consider that there will be cultural objections by some if not many of the countries we export food to, in regard to the moral basis of cloning. Next question: Do we as consumers have a choice? Are there measures in place in which consumers will know if the foods they’re eating are derived from a pedigree started through cloning. Currently, there’s a huge movement in place to have genetically modified foods have mandatory labeling. Genetically modified foods have been on the market for years and still no agreement has come into place, where will animal derived products fit into this? Lastly, where does it end? What are the limits to cloning animals? Will we soon be cloning the offspring of clones, then clones themselves?
I have to say that I’m very disappointed in the FDA, just because something isn’t necessarily unhealthy, doesn’t make it a desirable addition to society. Is it the FDAs job to dictate socially acceptable practice? No, I guess not, but there is a such thing as too laissez-faire, and that is when you allow big business to create social norms. Will my grandchildren be eating the same exact hamburger I’m eating today? Is there something wrong with it if they are? I’ll go ask the FDA, see what they have to say.