I recently had the opportunity to have supper at one of Montreal’s best restaurants. Being raised a true farmer, I ordered roast beef. I always had a theory that good beef could be cut with a fork. Not only could I not cut my beef with a fork, it took a very sharp knife and considerable effort to cut the roast beef. I immediately used my farming background and the little bit of genetics that I absorbed in college to figure out why this beef was so tough.
The beef sires used today are selected for siring animals with the quickest and the most efficient gain in weight with the least feed. Some breeds of animals are known to gain fastest and with the lowest feed cost. Some breeds grow more efficiently than others. Some of the tenderest beef is from a not so efficient breed.

This selection by the farmer helps keep the cost of meat lower, not only for the consumer, but for restaurants too. In Japan and some areas in Europe beef tenderness is very important and this meat is also priced higher. The technology now exists for selecting animals that produce meat that is more tender than average.
More than a century ago there was a dictator in Europe who began choosing humans for a “superior race”, who had blue eyes, blond hair, and were considered very beautiful and intelligent. He even began to exterminate an entire group of humans because of their religion. To my knowledge there was no thought of including compassion or integrity in his selection.
We watched as China adopted the “one child per family” policy where boys were favoured, lucky baby girls were offered for adoption and many other girl babies were not so lucky.
Farmers can now selectively breed animals for no horns, more milk and higher fat content in the milk, hair colour, overall animal health, longevity, just female calves and even temperament.
Some dairy farms have a lot of female employees and don’t want cross or dangerous animals on the farm.
Some genes carry more than one trait and when a desired trait is selected sometimes another unwanted one comes along. Use of sexed semen allows farmers to select for only female calves because they turn into milk cows and most males go for beef.
Some of our food today is made from plants which have been modified to grow more efficiently and are resistant to certain chemical sprays. This selection has helped keep consumer food prices down. Lately suspicion has been raised about the health safety of some of these foods.
Very recently, a new technology called CRISPR has been developed. CRISPR technology has revolutionized research and opened up everything from biomedical research to selecting the eye and hair colour of your future children and even their size, strength, and intelligence.
You may soon be able to select to have children less susceptible to many cancers and other diseases. The big problem with CRISPR is that it allows us to make and create changes and we have no idea of the eventual outcome.
For centuries our civilizations have been based on compassion and helping each other. Lately we have noticed an increase in the me first civilization. We have also witnessed a great divide in the super rich and the not so rich. Some can afford to buy only safe, tasty, tender food while many base their food purchases based solely on price. Some can afford to use CRISPR technology to design their future offspring, some cannot afford it.
Will CRISPR be used to combat diseases and used for the good of all? Will billionaires who lack integrity use CRISPR to force their morals on the world?
Maybe I come from the old school but I never cared if our child arrived as a boy or girl. I just prayed that the baby would be healthy and grow up to be a benefit to humanity.
Let’s select our leaders very carefully and although hard work must be rewarded certain things must not be favoured for just the rich or the me first movement.

Chris Judd is a farmer in Clarendon
on land that has been in his
family for generations.
gladcrest@gmail.com