Increasing Food Availability

The plant revolution, the genetically transformed crops, and their optimistic scientific background are bringing increasing benefits to companies, farmers, scientists, and maybe the environment (“Plant Biotechnology,” 16 July, p. [367][1]). Furthermore, it has been claimed that biotechnologies will contribute to the increase of food availability in developing countries and in reducing poverty, hunger, and diseases. Yet every year in Italy and the rest of Europe, tons of agricultural products and foods are destroyed to keep sale prices high, and developing countries have never had much benefit from the abundance of food in Western countries. This could be a convincing argument to discuss with the public: We all know how important sentiment is in persuading people that something is good and true. [1]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.285.5426.367