GMO Coffee? Really? Really?
I know that there has been quite a ‘counter culture’ buzz out there lately about perhaps genetically modified anything might not be so bad. Yes. That’s the PR campaign people trying to sell you genetically modified, are putting out. And quite frankly, none of us know if GMO is bad for you or not. The studies are incomplete.
As someone in the food industry, I am always getting insider tips and information that is generally not known to the public. So I actually don’t remember which source of mine gave me this, but I think it’s worth repeating…
“A consortium of scientists that they’ve sequenced the coffee genome for the first time. By determining all of the genes that make up coffee …..they’ve opened the door to better breeding practices and even genetic engineering”.
They’re talking about robusta coffee which makes up for about a third of all the coffee we drink. And basically what they’re doing is trying to find the enzymes in food…. in this case caffeine…. to see if they are similar or linked in any way. And by figuring this out genetically, it gives them an opportunity to figure out how and why plants create caffeine.
They find it interesting that while the coffee and chocolate plants are both caffeinated, each has reached that on their own, without anything in common, history wise (they didn’t get cross pollinated and acquire the caffeine from the other).
If they are able to isolate the caffeine, then they’re thinking they will be able to grow coffee without caffeine as well.
In our current coffee plants what they’ve also found is there is a disease resistance that comes along with caffeine. They don’t have to spray plants, because the bugs naturally aren’t eating them because of the caffeine.
Now that’s interesting, no?
YES CHEF!
I mean, don’t they keep flip flopping on us about coffee? One says it’s the worst thing for you. The second says it’s the best thing for you, in fact, cancer fighting?
With the plethora of new information spitting out daily at us, we are in a very interesting time. Later, our children’s children will know all these answers. But for now? We don’t have them.
Do what you will, but I like to side with people of intelligence and strength like Dr. Andrew Weil. He and I are on the same page when it comes to ‘until there’s testing that says yay or nay, let’s not be the guinea pigs’. I’m para phrasing. He would never say it that way! lol
Happy Eating,
Chef Marian