Davenport Garden Center owner Dennis Valente drizzled maple syrup over sweet potatoes in the cafeteria kitchen while a group of sixth-graders topped pizza crusts with pesto they'd made using basil from their school garden.
Kids and their parents loaded up compostable plates and cups with samples of Otsego County apples, Delaware County cheese, butternut squash lasagna and chicken quesadillas, while local children's musician Skip West strummed his guitar.
The Greater Plains FROG (Friends of Regional Organic Gardening) Food Festival at my daughter's elementary school last weekend was a celebration of food the way food should be: nurtured with care in gardens and on small farms, free of unnecessary drugs and chemicals, using sustainable practices and techniques.
It was about as far as you could get from the genetically engineered salmon debated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration earlier in the week.
Developed by Massachusetts-based AquaBounty Technologies Inc., the salmon would be produced by transplanting part of a gene from an eel-like fish called an ocean pout into the growth gene of a Chinook salmon, and then transferring this genetic material into the fertilized eggs of a North Atlantic salmon.
The resulting salmon, famously dubbed "Frankenfish" by Alaska Sen. Mark Begich, grows during the summer and winter (unlike ordinary salmon), reaching full size in half the time it takes for natural salmon and consuming less food in the process.
Though preliminary FDA findings deemed the genetically modified salmon safe to eat, environmental and consumer advocates have urged the FDA to proceed with caution. Environmentalists fear the impact on ocean ecosystems if some of the genetically modified salmon escape their inland tanks. Consumer advocates are concerned about the possible health implications — including allergies and increased cancer risk — of consuming largely untested genetically modified animal products.
Of course, genetically engineered food is not new. For years, Americans have been eating more foods than we may realize made from sugar beets, corn, soybeans and other crops genetically fortified to resist pests, disease and weed killers — not to mention dairy products from cows given bovine growth hormone. However, FDA approval of AquaAdvantage salmon would mark the first time genetically modified animals would be legal to sell for human consumption, and this could pave the way for more corporate science experiments.
If the FDA does approve the fish, it should require labels indicating that the salmon is genetically engineered. Consumers have a right to know where the food they are putting into their shopping carts came from and how it was produced.
Proponents of the genetically engineered salmon say fisheries are becoming depleted, and new farming methods are needed to keep up with global demand.
I can certainly see the benefits of science and technology when it comes to finding new and better ways to feed the world. Genetically engineered seeds and crops may be crucial in the future, as the world's population grows and our natural resources dwindle. However, messing with the ecosystem seems counterproductive. And somehow, I don't imagine the folks at AquaBounty Inc. angling to market their fish to homeless shelters and undeveloped countries. More than likely, they are simply looking to capitalize on growing demand at the supermarket (how many times have you heard about the health benefits of the Omega-3 fatty acids found in salmon?) by engineering a larger supply that's cheaper to produce.
I'm a fan of salmon, but I'd rather limit my consumption than take a chance on a product that seems, well, a little fishy.
I hope the FDA thoroughly studies the risks of introducing genetically engineered animals into the food supply.
In the meantime, I will be picking apples, stockpiling squash and adding local products I tried for the first time at the school festival to my shopping list.
Becoming a "locavore" is looking better every day.
Lisa Miller is a freelance writer who lives in Oneonta. She can be reached at lisamiller44@hotmail.com.
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Supersized salmon? No thanks
- Big Chuck D'Imperio
- Cary Brunswick
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Some wisdom is best passed down through books
I was visiting a friend out-of-town recently and the subject of providing a "reading list" to young people came up in conversation. He said years ago he had asked a respected acquaintance in Oneonta to compile such a list for his teenage daughter, to help her be better prepared for life, culture, education, politics and people.
Continued ... - Let pragmatism, not politics, determine birth control debate
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- Santorum, Obama both got it wrong on Honduras
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- Chuck Pinkey
- Guest Column
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If we don’t develop a sustainable system, who will?
In Otsego County’s local elections last fall, a number of candidates — most of them on the independent Sustainable Otsego line — ran on an anti-fracking, pro-sustainability platform. They recognized that our current way of life — dependent on increasingly scarce, costly and polluting fossil fuels — cannot continue.
Continued ... - Time to get off the bus and on the computer
- Cuomo's Machiavellian maneuvers are a danger
- Home rule laws aren't a radical idea
- Sustainable shouldn't be a dirty word
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If we don’t develop a sustainable system, who will?
- Lisa Miller
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Being a parent is a constant learning process
I am sitting cross-legged on the floor in the dressing room, waiting for Allie's dance number to be called. The cave girl costume has been donned, the jazz shoes double-tied, the hair pulled back, the requisite dab of lipstick applied.
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- A family era ends with close of Potter series
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- Untethered from the cable box
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Being a parent is a constant learning process
- Mark Simonson
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Perfect attendance by Saturday’s Bread for 20 years in Oneonta
Oneonta became a settlement and has been a place to do one's "trading," whether it was the 18th century, or 2012, because of the five valleys that converge here. Only the places of doing the "trading" have changed a bit over the last 100 years, and Oneonta remains a place that attracts visitors and has always been a decent place to live and work.
Continued ...
100 Years Ago - Recalling the Hindenburg, John D. Rockefeller in May 1937
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- Damaschke essential to ensuring Oneonta baseball in 1927
- Area tunes to WONT in November 1972
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Perfect attendance by Saturday’s Bread for 20 years in Oneonta
- Rick Brockway
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Climbing is one thing, but skydiving?
OUTDOORS COLUMN BY RICK BROCKWAY ... Last week, my friend George and I returned to the Gunks for another rock-climbing adventure. After last week's column, I asked about the rattlesnakes and was told not to worry. Rattlers are usually quite timid and will avoid people as much as possible. It's the copperheads that'll give you trouble. They're aggressive and will stand their ground to defend it. Oh great!!
- Rattlesnakes may be closer than you think, so pay attention
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- Pass down the rush of turkey hunting to your kids this weekend
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Climbing is one thing, but skydiving?
- Sam Pollak
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I'm happy with our kids to a certain degree
It was several years ago, and I was in the kitchen, telling my eldest daughter and my then-teenaged son about the person who was taking over as publisher at The Daily Star.
Continued ... - I get by with a little help from my 'friends'
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- Angelo Dundee was always a good man to have in your corner
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- William Masters
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Time for lawmakers who put needs of society first
Richard Lugar, after six terms as a Republican senator -- known for his middle of the road rationality and his foreign policy finesse -- has been ousted by a Tea Party extremist backed by outside right-wing funding.
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War not worth gambling with lives of soldiers
Are you not tired of our war in Afghanistan? It had a point, once, after 9/11. Bush couldn't distinguish his myopic personal agendas from the nation's needs and let Osama escape, dropping the ball entirely, causing many deaths.
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Titanic was a microcosm of U.S. economic disparity
Haunting reminders of the Titanic tragedy have wafted over us with the centenary of its sinking. The maiden voyage of an impressive, state of the art vessel, was a little like that of the Challenger space shuttle, at the cutting edge of developing technology. But the shuttle carried our pride in science and space exploration, not hundreds and hundreds of people.
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William Masters: Nation stands divided between 'us' and 'them'
In February, Trayvon Martin was shot dead as "suspicious" by a volunteer neighborhood watch man. The case has aroused community reaction in Sanford, Fla., and is still echoing across the country.
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A quarterback can't win the game alone
What is the relationship between democracy and wealth? Democracy is a political system, while wealth relates to economics. We have equal political rights, but we don't all have money. Extreme differences destroy the continuity of community solidarity.
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Time for lawmakers who put needs of society first
