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Food for Thought: Catholic Insights into the Modified Food Debate
Food for Thought Catholic Insights into the Modified Food Debate Author:John Perry "We are what we eat" goes the saying. It speaks to the deep-seated importance of food and what goes into it for the ordinary person. The public debate about genetically modified foods and the use of growth hormones in cattle is becoming more intense, more exaggerated, more divisive and potentially more extreme. As John Perry points out in this ... more »book, the issues are far more complex than the good/bad and right/wrong scenarios that most attention-grabbing headlines and street demonstrations seem to suggest. Perry traces the evolution of the debate about biotechnology and food production, outlining the possibilities that technology now offers and adds the perspective of the wisdom of Catholic social teaching. He points out how centuries of traditional Catholic thinking can be applied to the rapidly changing circumstances of new developments in genetic science. He frequently refers to real-life events, some well-known from media reports, showing how real dilemmas require us to think through these issues more thoroughly. Perry's most unique insight is in the parallel he explores between the Eucharist theology of transubstantiation and what happens in genetic modification. This book will be talked about and should contribute to the public discussion of a troublesome cluster of issues. And as a case study in applying ethical analysis to a specific issue, Perry demonstrates the merits of the Ignatian discipline of moral discernment.« less