You have to admire Robert Saik’s gumption. Or not, depending on your point of view.
The chief executive officer of Agri-Trend showed up at an anti-Monsanto demonstration in Kelowna , B.C., May 21 sporting an “I (heart) GMOs” T-shirt and set up a few portable stands with signs, one of which read, “facts not fear. Know GMO.” Some demonstrators didn’t appreciate Saik’s educational activities.
A video posted on his Facebook page notes “Butterfly lady attacks,” in which a woman holds a small sign in front of his face. In another video, he engages in a lengthy, and ultimately fruitless, conversation about organics with the “butterfly lady,” before she knocks over his stands.
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Is that the state of debate over genetically modified food these days?
Well, to be fair, a couple of demonstrators did engage Saik in reasoned discussion, prompting him to say, “this dialogue I had with you guys made my day.”
The debate over GM foods has become so polarized in some circles that many people who support them wouldn’t be willing to show up with such zest at one of the now ubiquitous anti-Monsanto demonstrations.
But there are opportunities for reasoned discussion on GMOs, including, of course, the pages of The Western Producer. For example, Purdue University has posted a blog on a study by its academics that states, as one professor puts it, “This is not an argument to keep or lose GMOs. It’s just a simple question: what happens if they go away?”
Sensible approach. The study concludes yields in several crops would decline significantly, and greenhouse gas emissions would increase.
Debate.org, which bills itself as a “free online community where intelligent minds from around the world come to debate online” has a reasonably good blog on GMOs. It’s a freewheeling site — but free of personal attacks — and some of the arguments against GMOs aren’t exactly scientific. For example, one blogger claimed “within that year of stopping GMOs I haven’t been sick.” Eliminating consumption of all GMOs is a tall order, given the ingredients in manufactured foods these days.
Still, it’s a debate that must happen, so consumers and lawmakers can better understand the issue, even if it sometimes gets ridiculous.
