Hightower Lowdown

The latest advance of science is the cloning of animals. "We can make every cow precisely like its progenitor," exult the lab techs working for corporate cloners. "This eliminates uncertainty in meat production, for every cut can be the exact same texture, taste, and composition. We have achieved the efficiency of the assembly line inside the animal itself!"

Hmm, cloned animals have a startlingly-high propensity to die before birth or shortly after, and abnormal rates of birth defects and health problems? Do we really want to eat that? "Don't worry, the Bush administration has given the OK for meat and dairy corporations to market the cloned stuff to you--without even labeling the product as cloned. Trust us!"

Now I really am worried.

We have an abundance of meat and dairy products with a wide variety of flavors and textures produced by unique environments, farmers, and artisans all across our country. Why would we give up all of that richness for a cloned uniformity?