The Wal-Mart-ization of Wheat

Environmental activists, farmers and wheat marketers formed an unlikely alliance two years ago when they stopped the introduction of genetically engineered wheat to Canada. In the face of their protests, the transnational corporate giant Monsanto agreed in May 2004 to put its plans for Roundup Ready wheat back on the shelf.

The opponents of biotechnology might be excused for believing this was a significant accomplishment. It is now clear, however, that their success was illusory. The Economics of Genetically Modified Wheat is a blunt reminder that the fight for Canada’s most famous agricultural product is far from over. Colin Carter, Derek Berwald and Al Loyns, agricultural economists from California and Manitoba, plainly hope to convince Canadians, and those opposed to bio-technology around the world, that their opposition is misguided. As the preface to their book straightforwardly states, the authors aspire to nothing less than a “gestalt shift” in...