Clones: they're what's for dinner

Today the FDA declared cloned animals safe for eating. Sales won't begin right away, though. Why not? For one thing, cloned animals are expensive -- they cost $10,000 to $20,000 per head. For another, marketing -- the FDA asked cloning companies to hold off on selling their products to allow "the marketplace to adjust," as USDA undersecretary Bruce Knight put it in the AP story I link to above. What, the market's not quite ready to swallow the idea of cloned meat? And if not, why bring this meat to the market?

It seems the FDA will brook no silly consumer anxiety about food produced in a lab -- the administration won't require producers to label cloned animal products, though companies can choose to do so if they know the source. The FDA's decision to not require labeling is disrespectful of consumers. What happened to choice? If we can choose organic produce with the help of a label, surely we should be allowed to not choose cloned meat. It seems arbitrary what gets labeled and what doesn't; it's hard not to feel that the government is shoving cloned meat down consumers' throats.

The story I link to quotes Maryland senator Barbara Mikulski, who sponsored successful legislation asking the FDA to study the issue more before deciding. "The FDA has acted recklessly," she said. "Just because something was created in a lab doesn't mean we should have to eat it. If we discover a problem with cloned food after it is in our food supply and it's not labeled, the FDA won't be able to recall it like they did Vioxx -- the food will already be tainted."

Exactly.

To end on a constructive note, it might be time to start thinking about joining a meat CSA, offered by farms such as Stillman's and Chestnut Farms.