FFS 009 - 'Stop Generalising GMOs'

Are ‘GMOs’ good or bad? Are they safe to eat? Are they symbolic of what is wrong with our food system? According to plant geneticist Pamela Ronald, such generalisations are unhelpful in furthering the debate around the future of food.

This week, we talk ‘GMOs’ with Pamela Ronald from the University of California Davis. Pam and her colleagues have received a number of awards for their work on submergence-tolerant rice.

We discuss:

• The issues with defining and discussing GMOs in a generalist sense

• Some of the criticisms associated with the topic, the misconceptions and misinformation

• The role genetic engineering plays according to Pam in helping to forge disease-resistant, climate-change-resilient crops

• The millions of farmers planting seeds carrying a gene Pam and her collaborators isolated

• Pam's view of combining genetic engineering with organic farming

Links:

1. Those making a case for GMOs:

• The Case for Engineering our Food- Pamela Ronald TED Talk

• Pam's Book- Tomorrow's Table: Organic Farming, Genetics, and the Future of Food 

• McKay Jenkins (2017) Food Fight: GMOs and the Future of the American Diet

2. Those against GMOs:

• La Via Campesina: 'Real Problems, False Solutions'

• Timothy A. Wise - 'Eating Tomorrow: Agribusiness, Family Farmers, and the Battle for the Future of Food'