at GM plant technology will raise agricultural productivity, assist the development of safer, more nutritious foods with a longer shelf life, and contribute to the goal of increased food security for the poor in developing countries. Against this point of view there are those who say that GM food technology is a threat to human health and the environment. They say that its introduction will raise the profits of private suppliers and at the same time deprive poor producers of primary commodities access to markets and to the new varieties of seed. Will the technology promote the general welfare by making for improved food safety or reducing the use of chemical pesticides in agriculture? Or does the technology pose unknown risks for consumers and the environment that we would be wise not to run if we are concerned about the general welfare? What implications does the technology have for the rights of consumers, for example the right to be informed about the food one is eating? What implications does it have for the rights of scientists to be free to conduct their research in ways that protect their intellectual integrity? Finally, we can ask questions derived from a concern with the principle of justice. Who will be the principal beneficiaries from the introduction of the new technologies and what obligations do they have to compensate the losers?For most individual consumers, the choice whether to consume or not consume GM food is not a matter of ethics. A consumer who thought GM food unsafe would be unwise to eat it. Only if consuming GM food is thought to be intrinsically wrong, is its consumption ethically wrong. The consumption of GM food would be ethically problematic, but in an indirect fashion. If its production did harm, violated rights, or caused injustice then there's a cause for concern. Their critics frequently make the claim that the production of GM crops does one or all of these things.GM crops do not raise questi...
