Many teenagers in the audience at the National Agricultural Awareness Conference in Saskatoon were witnessing something they had never seen before – a debate.
Four Grade 10 students from two high schools in Saskatchewan squared off on the issue of genetically modified organisms.
Ali Lake and Jamie Dzikowski from Saskatoon’s Walter Murray Collegiate spoke in favor of a prohibition of GM food in Canada.
Their opponents, Katie Kirkness and Brooklyn Andre from Yorkton Regional High School disagreed, saying GM foods don’t pose immediate risks to Canadians.
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The debaters’ goal was to get fellow classmates to move to their side of the room in support of the best argument.
There were a lot of nervous giggles from the audience as each team gave its statement on the issue and then faced the other team for a cross-examination that at times grew heated.
Kirkness cut off her opponent, Dzikowski, during the first cross-examination, by asking her if anyone has died from eating GM food.
Dzikowski said, “no, but…” Before she could finish her sentence, Kirkness said, “fine, yes or no will do.”
The crowd loved the back and forth of the debate and cheered when Kirkness sat down.
But team Saskatoon member Ali Lake wouldn’t let Kirkness state that if no one dies, everything is OK.
“Canada shouldn’t sit back and wait for death to occur. We must prepare for the future and until further research is done on food that many scientists are concerned about, Canada should prohibit GMOs,” Lake said.
She and Dzikowski said GMOs should be banned because not enough research has been done to determine the long-term effects on humans.
The Yorkton team fought back, saying GM food has been around for more than seven years and no major ill effects have been reported.
Cheers erupted and shouts of “Yorkton rules” could be heard when Andre said, “Never let fear make your decision about something like GM foods.”
The volley between both teams lasted for more than an hour. When the moderator asked the students to choose which team they believed more, there was a mass move to Yorkton’s side.
“Yorkton did do a better job than the other team but I think everyone picked it because they made you believe it, too,” said Raeleen Lischynski, a Grade 11 student at Yorkton Regional High School
Added Alicia Chapman, a spectator from Saskatoon’s Evan Hardy Collegiate: “I don’t think there is anything wrong with GM foods. I think more testing needs to be done and that they should be labeled so people have choice to eat them or not.”
Ironically, the debaters who advocated GMOs also think more research is needed.
“When I was researching this topic, I found lots of scientists are questioning this,” Andre said.
“So, if scientists who are doing this are questioning, I think we should too.”
Lake agreed.
“Personally, I believe GMOs have risks but that I wouldn’t go as far as to prohibit them. I think it’s important to set up an ethics board relating to genetically modified foods and to label every single thing on the market.”
