While European biotech companies such as Novartis avoided the limelight, St. Louis-based Monsanto decided to press its case. The timing was terrible. That last, also nongenetic, dispute actually triggered the vandalism at McDonald's last month. But to many of France's famously irascible small farmers, it's all of a piece. Even among the broader public in France and Britain, the GM-foods issue seems to be intersecting with second thoughts about globalization.
French farmers protest American imperialism.
Britain is a hotbed for Internet start-ups. Consumers Union, whose Consumer Reports magazine features a big piece on GM foods this month, has put together an array of poll data suggesting Americans would like to see GM food labeled, but remain interested in its benefits. Of course, if Tommy's trial were held in Berkeley, Calif., where the school board has announced a ban on GM foods, he might walk. U.S. activists, encouraged by the successes of their European brethren, hope to build on such sentiments. But there's science going on, too.