Most industry observers believe that GM food's time will come again, after a pause for more rigorous testing. Monsanto is currently holding a series of meetings with critics such as Rifkin to ask what it has to do to regain its credibility. For the time being, the rush towards a genetically modified diet has been slowed to a more cautious pace. It has been, Rifkin argues, a cultural victory for Europe, where food, cuisine and culture are intertwined, over America, where food is just another commodity. Cultural and bio-diversity is converging into one issue.
Food is the last thing people feel they can control.