Both industry and government continue to assure consumers that genetic engineering, like the use of rBGH, or bovine growth hormone, in cows is not only safe but will also increase the food supply and reduce the need for pesticides. Earlier this year, a coalition of consumer groups, chefs and scientists filed a lawsuit against the FDA demanding labeling and safety testing. Now the 1,000-member Chefs Collaborative, which was founded in 1993 to support organic farming and sustainable agriculture, is getting involved. New York restaurateurs who are in the collaborative and have signed the petition include chefs at Le Bernardin, Daniel, Chanterelle, Union Square Cafe, Aureole, March and Savoy. Chefs at Chez Panisse in Berkeley, Calif., Frontera Grill in Chicago and Olives in Boston are also among the 140 signatories in the drive to get names on the petition.
Many chefs instinctively mistrust the genetic engineering of food.
It's like Frankenstein. Other chefs, like Peter Hoffman at Savoy, worry about unintended consequences. Everyone thought it was a miracle. No one ever thought what it would do to birds and fish. DDT was not a cost-free miracle.