Dinner at the New Gene Cafe

Biotech companies are racing to alter the genetic building blocks of the world's food. In the United States, the primary venue for this quiet revolution, the acreage of genetically modified crops has soared from zero to 70 million acres since 1996. More than half of America's processed grocery products - from cornflakes and granola bars to diet drinks - contain genetically altered ingredients. But the US, unlike other democratic nations overseas, does not require labeling of modified food. Journalist Bill Lambrecht has covered these issues extensively from the beginning. In DINNER AT THE NEW GENE CAFE he lays out the battle lines of the impending collision between a powerful but unproved technology and a gathering resistance from people worried about the safety of genetic change.