Eating in the Dark: America's Experiment with Genetically Engineered Food

by Kathleen Hart

Most Americans eat genetically modified food on a daily basis, but few of us are aware we’re eating something that has been altered. Meanwhile, consumers abroad refuse to buy our engineered crops; their groceries are labeled so that everyone knows if the contents have been modified. What’s going on here? Why does the U.S. government treat engineered foods so differently from the rest of the world?

Eating in the Dark tells the story of how these new foods quietly entered America’s food supply. Kathleen Hart explores biotechnology’s real potential to enhance nutrition and cut farmers’ expenses. She also reveals the process by which American government agencies decided not to label genetically modified food, and not to require biotech companies to perform even basic safety tests on their products. Combining a balanced perspective with a sense of urgency, Eating in the Dark is a captivating and important story account of the science and politics propelling the genetic alteration of our food.

Genres: Nonfiction, Genetics, Science, Food

344 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Award-winning author Kathleen Hart worked as a reporter in Washington, D.C., for 23 years, covering nuclear nonproliferation, energy, and the environment. Born in Holden, Massachusetts, she received her B.A. from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She published a nonfiction book, Eating in the Dark: America’s Experiment with Genetically Engineered Food, with Penguin Random House and has appeared on NPR and C-SPAN. The Kiev Confession is her debut novel.

Reviews

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

A introduction to genetic engineering. Raises many interesting issues including the the double standard for GMO food stuffs in the US and Europe. Questions why the FDA does not have a role to play in protecting the American public.

[Sean Endress · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a history book, it is a terrific read- I have not seen such a detailed telling of the history of GMO usage in Western culture. It is well-sourced and in-depth, but never dry or inaccessible. However, it seems to veer into scare tactics (i.e. pressing the point that the genes used are sourced from bacteria, etc, to make them appear more dangerous) that don't serve the book's integrity as a reference nor the author's argument that GMOs demand more oversight. I learned a lot, but I don't think the case was successfully made.

[Riley Haas · Rating 3 out of 5]

"This is an alarming read. It's preposterous to me that industry and government believe there is any kind of argument against labelling. Their argument is "it could hurt profits." How is that an argument? The analogy that these things are like microwaves is utterly false. The only way that analogy would work is if the microwave had been a new kind of fridge that exposed people to microwaves, unlike older fridges, but the consumer was uninformed about the difference. Haven't we had enough experiments go wrong to at least label our food? Hart isn't quite as unbiased as she'd like to be. She does include lots of voices from the other side but it's clear that she thinks these people are out to lunch (and though she may be right, her job as a journalist should be to be a little more in the middle). The biggest issue for me is that this is not a systematic book. It's sort of "where I went and what I found" and I think it could be helped by a more methodical approach. Still, a good and alarming if one-sided read."

[Andrea M · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't think I'll finish it because the writing style is too long-winded but I think I got the gist of it and I am truly astounded at what people are getting away with for the money at the expense of the public good. When the elected government ceases to fulfill the duties assigned it by the people, the people ought to take the duties back into their own hands in this case protecting the food supply. If you have ever wondered how exactly we got diseases that are antibiotic-resistant, I learned in this book that they were using antibiotics in testing to mark the genes they wanted and then as we eat the foods and everything gets broken down to a molecular level those antibiotics got assimilated by the bacteria in our digestive system and now they don't work on us. We may not see the negative effects immediately which is why it will be difficult to trace back to a specific genetic engineering company and they will deny any responsibility anyway.

[Yvonne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kathleen Hart has numerous studies to back up the ideas presented in the book. Namely that foods contain foreign introduced genes and the food is not clearly labelled. Not only can these genes introduce allergic responses but in the case of built-in insecticide expression, they can wreak havoc with butterflies, bees and other micro-flora. People need to fight for the right of informed consent and should be given the choice to give these foods to their families (including babies and young children). We are submitting ourselves to a grand experiment that is being orchestrated by big seed companies. Have you eaten corn, soy, wheat, cotton seed oil, and potato today? Then you are eating in the dark too. Check out Dr. Don Huber about the use of Round-up and it's effect on crops soils, animals and consumers too. It's very surprising what is going on in agriculture without our knowledge.

[Wendy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This books is narrowed down to Americans eating genetically modified food. It tells use how we are not aware of how much genetically modified food we eat everyday and unaware that what we are eating are being altered. The food ingredients do not state int he labels that it is genetically modified. Thus, biotechnology had become a major issue in society. This books exposes the pesticide used . Also the new products use to produce food cut the farmers' expenses. This is kind of interesting, but not that helpful. If you plan on doing GM food next year for exhibition, you can use this book, but if not, it is not that helpful.

[Nonito Abbu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shame that the book is a little outdated, but is full of very interesting facts and figures on the extent of genetic manipulation in vital crops in the United States. I hope Hart releases an update to this situationer on the impending food crisis that is bound to transform the way we eat. Very good analysis and a startling eye-opener on the truth on genetic modification of food crops. Excellent nonfiction.

[Diane C. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although this book was written in 2000, it still has much information to give us that most people aren't aware of. It is nice to see the increasing wariness society exhibited regarding gmo foods.

Scary!

Also, watch a movie called The Future of Food, which was made by Jerry Garcia's widow, Deborah Koons Garcia, on the same subject.

[Austin]

Scary reality

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

What's so bad about potatoes that produce their own pesticides? How could that ever go wrong? This book made me write three letters to Congress.