Once there was a little boy named Jack. Jack lived with his sick mother and three pigs in a very small farmhouse. Jack and his mother were very poor, and the farmhouse had no furniture at all except one wooden stool and a rickety table.
Jack and his mother lived on good farming land, but Jack was too small and his mother was too sick to attend to the farm. There was no one else to help farm the food supply, or to protect the crops from insects. And so Jack, his mother, and the three pigs were starving.
Jack's mother told him that he must take one of their three pigs and sell it at the auction. Jack was very sad, but he was a good little boy and wanted to help his mother. So Jack set off to the auction with one of the pigs.
Jack had not gone very far when he met a chemist who had some synthetic seeds in his hand. Jack stopped to look at them. The chemist told the boy that they were of great value, and persuaded Jack to sell his pig for the synthetic seeds.
Jack ran home to his mother, but when she saw just synthetic seeds instead of gold, she was very angry. She threw the synthetic seeds out of the farmhouse window. Jack was very unhappy, and cried himself to sleep that evening.
When Jack awoke the next morning he was surprised at what he saw when he looked out of the farmhouse window. A giant genetically modified cornstalk grew strong and tall overnight. The two pigs that were left wouldn’t eat or go near the giant stalk, but Jack didn’t notice. The cornstalk was so tall that the top was somewhere up in the clouds. "It must have a top," thought Jack," and he wanted to find it.
Jack began climbing up the cornstalk. He climbed, and climbed, and at last reached the top to find a barren wasteland. The wasteland had no plants, no water, and the air was green and hard to breathe. In the wasteland Jack saw a giant honeybee that was sickly. The honeybee told Jack, “I’m sad because insecticides used by a nearby giant destroyed the local plant and bee population.”
Jack felt bad for the giant honeybee, and wished there was something he could do. The honeybee warned Jack about a big castle in the distance, and said “in that castle lives a dreadful giant who is very fond of using pesticides, and eating genetically modified salmon for dinner.” The honeybee also told Jack that the giant had a great deal of money and was exceedingly rich.
Jack thanked the giant honeybee for the warning, and went on to the castle. When Jack came to the castle there was a very big door. Jack saw a face looking out of the castle window. Jack at first thought it must be the giant, but it was only the giant's wife. When she saw how small and hungry-looking Jack was, she took him in and gave him some genetically modified salmon.
Jack started to eat when the giant woman looked dreadfully frightened. She said, "Oh no, here comes my husband. He has increased allergies and organ damage from only eating genetically modified salmon.” The giant woman explained to Jack that her husband was always in a bad mood. Jack asked the giant woman to hide him, so she put him in a kettle on the stove. Suddenly there was a terrible stamping, and in came the giant.
"Fee, Fi, Fo, Fum! I smell the blood of a healthy one. Be he live, or be he dead, I'll grind his bones to butter my genetically modified bread" sang the giant. His voice sounded like thunder on a stormy day. The giant walked all around sniffing, then at last he gave up and he sat down at the table.
Jack lifted up the cover of the kettle just a little way and watched him eat and drink. After the giant had eaten genetically modified bread and salmon until he could eat no more, he took some bags full of gold out of his pocket and placed them on the table. The giant was so tired that he laid back in his chair and went to sleep.
"Now is my time," thought Jack. He climbed out of the kettle and crept up to the giant. He seized the bags of gold, ran to the window, and jumped out. Jack climbed down the cornstalk, and ran home. Jack's mother was delighted to see him again, and pleased when she saw the gold.
Jack remembered when the giant woman was feeding Jack, she had told him of a wonderful chicken that her husband owned. This chicken was genetically modified with hormones, so it became large faster, and could lay yokeless eggs. Jack thought, "If we had that chicken we would never be hungry anymore."
So, the next day Jack climbed up the cornstalk again and went to the castle. The giant was asleep again, so he took the giant chicken and got back safely. The chicken cackled so loudly that he thought the giant would hear, but he didn’t. So, that night Jack and his mother had eggs from the giant genetically modified chicken.
Once more Jack went to the castle to get a special calf. This calf was conceived through genetic modification and cloning, and sang beautiful songs when it produced hypoallergenic milk. Jack got into the castle all right, and took the giant calf while the giant was asleep. But the calf began to call out in a very loud voice, "master, master, wake, wake!"
The giant did wake! He rushed after Jack with a club in his hand. Jack came to the cornstalk and clambered down as quickly as he could. As he got to the bottom he felt the stalk swaying terribly, and looking up, he saw that big, fierce giant coming down after him.
Jack's mother came running out of the farmhouse. She saw the giant, fetched a hatchet, and gave it to Jack. Before Jack hacked away at the cornstalk, he heard the giant gasp. Jack looked up, and the giant said, “Oh my, it is so beautiful down here.” The giant’s voice was not thundering anymore. The giant exclaimed, “You have such beautiful fields to grow food.”
Jack hesitated, but then asked the giant, “I thought you wanted to eat me?” The giant smiled and replied, “You did steal my things… why did you do that?” Jack nervously explained to the giant his situation. Jack told the giant that they couldn’t farm their land anymore because Jack was too small and his mother was too sick. Jack also explained that they were poor and hungry, and the reason he took the gold, the wonderful chicken, and the special calf is so they could eat.
The giant listened very carefully, and Jack and his mother started to cry. The giant frowned and said, “I can’t farm and grow any food where I live either.” The giant explained to Jack and his mother that all of the other giants used pesticides where he lived. The giant said, “All of the animals are now very sick, and genetically modified foods is all that we can eat.”
Jack looked around and saw what he had stolen from the giant – the bags of gold, the wonderful chicken, and the special calf – and suddenly he had an idea. Jack smiled and said to the giant, “We should help each other.” The giant looked puzzled, but stepped down off the cornstalk. “I’m listening,” said the giant. Jack motioned for the giant to sit, and so the giant sat down on the ground. The pigs were so scared of the giant that the squealed and ran away.
Jack started to describe a way that the giant and he could help each other. Both Jack and the giant talked a really long time. When they were done talking they agreed to use both genetically modified and natural farming techniques to revitalize the farm. First Jack smiled, and then the giant smiled. Jack and the giant shook hands, and things changed for the both of them.
Using both genetically modified and natural, organic, and sustainable farming techniques, Jack and the giant developed a successful farmer’s co-op. The giant honeybee, the wonderful chicken, and the special calf lived on the farm. Also, the giants could farm and grow natural food, Jack and his mother could use the milk and eggs from the genetically modified animals, and everyone had extra crops, milk, eggs, and honey to sell to their neighbors.
Eventually Jack’s mother got better by drinking the hypoallergenic milk and yolkless eggs. This made Jack very happy. The giant and his wife were also very happy because they got to farm again. And so, Jack, his mother, the giant, the giant’s wife, and all the animals now had enough food, were no longer sick, and lived happily the rest of their days.