Attack of the clones

The FDA has recently determined that "meat and milk from clones of cattle, swine, and goats, and the offspring of clones from any species traditionally consumed as food, are as safe to eat as food from conventionally bred animals." (Read the full press release here.) Until now, meat and dairy farmers had agreed not to sell any products that were from clones or offspring of clones. This latest decision clears the way for cloned beef, pork and dairy products to enter the food system. The FDA has also stated that food from cloned animals need not be labeled as such, because "food derived from these sources is no different from food derived from conventionally bred animals."

Frankly, this makes me squeamish. I can't pretend to challenge the science or methodology of the study, so I'll admit that my squeamishness may be entirely irrational. But there it is. I don't want to eat bacon from a cloned pig, or drink milk from a cloned cow. I just don't.

I fully support the use of cloning animals to develop cures or treatments for human ailments. I support cloning human embryos for the same purpose. But cloning for food? Isn't that a scenario out of some futuristic movie that nobody expects to come true?

My benign reaction is that, if we have reached the point of cloning animals in order to have enough meat or dairy products to feed ourselves, then as a society we are probably eating too much of those products. My more sinister reaction is that it is probably the large corporations who are behind the idea of cloning animals for use in the food supply. The FDA alludes to this, stating, "clones are intended to be used as elite breeding animals to introduce desirable traits into herds more rapidly than would be possible using conventional breeding." Hmmm. Elite breeding animals. So Harris Ranch finds the biggest, heartiest cow among the thousands of cows in its feedlots, and it clones that cow (as many times as it wants), giving it an endless supply of super-breeders of big, hearty cow DNA.

Seriously, this stuff makes me feel nauseated.

I'm curious about whether others feel the same way, or whether I'm overreacting. After all, cloning is standard practice in horticulture. We drink wine from grape clones. We eat apples from cloned apple trees. Why do I feel differently about milk and meat?