Franken-Foods

America’s Fear of Genetically Modified Foods By Antonio Alvarado

Up in Frankenstein’s castle, the mad food scientists of Monsanto, DuPont, and Syngenta are working on a way to make sure your food not only gives you cancer, but comes alive at night to feast on the living. In all seriousness, America is showing its deep-seated fear of scientific progress with the Vermont Senate’s recent approval of a mandatory GMO labeling bill. It is expected that Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin will sign the bill making the state the first in the nation to require labeling on GMOs and setting a dangerous precedent for other states. While transparency is important, American food labeling should be based on science, not alarmism.

There is exactly zero evidence that GMOs, or genetically modified organisms, are related to harmful effects on humans or animals. According to JoAnna Wendel of Genetic Literacy Project “genetically modified foods are among the most extensively studied scientific subjects in history. This year celebrates the 30th anniversary of GM technology, and the paper’s conclusion is unequivocal: there is no credible evidence that GMOs pose any unique threat to the environment or the public’s health. The reason for the public’s distrust of GMOs lies in psychology, politics and false debates.” The message is the same from the National Academy of Sciences, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Medical Association, the Royal Society of Medicine, and even the European Commission, which is very anti-GMO.

Whenever a scientific fact becomes politicized, it is important to look at the two groups debating the topic and see who is responsible for each argument. In my experience there is always the same two groups. The first group is the one with scientific consensus backing their claims, and the other is the conspiracy theorists saying that scientists have a secret agenda. To those that subscribe to the ideas of the conspiracy theorists, I find it important to point out that universities and nonprofits, not just private research institutions owned by big business, do much of the research done about these foods. Americans need to understand that scientists know more about science than politicians and pundits.

Genetically modified foods, despite all of the fear mongering, are good for the future of America. They make food more affordable for the poor. They make farming more efficient. They can even have beneficial effects on the environment.

People must understand that humans can change their environment to better suit their needs, and they have been doing so ever since the first wolf was domesticated into a dog. Changing our environment and change in general can be frightening, especially when many Americans are not very knowledgeable about the facts. But, we need to set this fear aside so that society can progress.

Franken-foods might be scary, but scientific ignorance is the real monster.