Perspectives on genetically modified foods from world religions and indigenous traditions.

Modern biotechnology has surpassed science fiction with such feats as putting fish genes in tomatoes to create a more cold-resistant crop. While the environmental and health concerns over such genetically modified foods have been the subject of public debate, religious and spiritual viewpoints have been given short shrift. This book seeks to understand the moral and religious attitudes of groups within pluralistic societies whose traditions and beliefs raise for them unique questions about food and dietary practice. What questions are there for kosher Jews, halal Muslims, and vegetarian Hindus about food products containing transgenes from prohibited sources? How do these foods impact the cultural practices and spiritual teachings of indigenous peoples? Concerns from the above traditions as well as Christianity, Buddhism, Chinese religion, and ethical vegetarianism are included. Contributors look at the ethical context of each tradition and also include information from focus groups. This enlightening work concludes with recommendations for the labeling of genetically modified foods.

Conrad Brunk is professor of philosophy and former director of the Centre for Studies in Religion and Society at the University of Victoria (UVic). Dr. Brunk is a regular consultant to the Canadian government and international organizations on environmental and health risk management and biotechnology and is the author of numerous articles in journals and books on ethical issues in technology, the environment, law, and professional practice.

Lawrence Haworth is a professor of philosophy at the University of Waterloo and a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada; he also holds the title of Distinguished Professor Emeritus. Articles of his have appeared in Dialogue, Philosophy of Science, American Philosophical Quarterly, Ethics, Canadian Journal of Philosophy, Harvard Business Review, American Institute of Planners Journal, Educational Theory, Leisure Studies, Environments, and Plan Canada, among others. He has contributed chapters to a number of books, including The Inner Citadel, The Possibility of Aesthetic Experience, Power, Poverty, and Urban Policy, Social Ethics, Urban Problems, and Concepts in Social and Political Philosophy. He is the author of Autonomy (1986), The Good City (1963), Decadence and Objectivity (1977), and a co-author of [http://www.wlupress.wlu.ca/Catalog/pedlar.shtml A Textured Life] (WLU Press,1999.)

Conrad G. Brunk's profile page

Harold Coward is a scholar of international reputation with distinguished contributions to both the University of Victoria and University of Calgary throughout his extensive career. After retiring from the University of Victoria as director of the Centre for Studies in Religion and Society, he continues to be involved as a research fellow. He is currently a member of the Genome BC Board of Directors, where he serves as a specialist on ethics and biotechnology. In June 2002, Dr. Coward was also selected as one of the twenty-five power thinkers in British Columbia by BC Business Magazine.

Leslie S. Kawamura is an Assistant Professor, Department of Religious Studies, University of Calgary, Alberta. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, in Far Eastern Studies (1974). He has studied at the Kyoto University (Japan) and has taught at the Nyingma Institute (Berkeley), Institute of Buddhist Studies (Berkeley), and the University of Saskatchewan (Saskatoon). His publications include Mind in Buddhist Psychology (with H.V. Guenther, Dharma Press, 1975) and Golden Zephyr (Dharma Press, 1975). He was a founding member of the Honpa Buddhist Church of Alberta and the Canada-Mongolia Society.

Harold Coward's profile page

"Fascinating and thought-provoking, with interesting insights about cultural mores, this collection provides a valuable appreciation of the social repercussions that result from thrusting a sensitive, volatile technology on a tradition-oriented public." — CHOICE

"?Conrad G. Brunk and Harold Coward have compiled a unique set of religious, cultural, and indigenous perspectives on genetically modified foods." — Religion Dispatches

"This well-written and thoughtful book is a significant contribution from religious voices, and the range of lenses in the book itself is a testimony to the many ways one can consider the implications of genetically modified organisms." — Stephanie Kaza, author of Mindfully Green: A Personal and Spiritual Guide to Whole Earth Thinking

"Unique and timely; a good text for courses dealing with environmental ethics and comparative religious ethics." — Swasti Bhattacharyya, author of Magical Progeny, Modern Technology: A Hindu Bioethics of Assisted Reproductive Technology