Feeding The World

The recent apology from British environmentalist Mark Lynas, one of the men who was instrumental in spurring the anti-GMO movement in the 1990s, was a pleasant surprise to those who support GM crops, and rather a shock to those who don’t. His apology delivered at an Oxford Farming Conference was simply that he now feels he was wrong for spending so many year tearing down the benefit and safety of genetically modified foods, and he’s sorry for helping to create an atmosphere of fear and loathing for “an important technological option which can be used to benefit the environment”. Lynas says he now realizes that GMO foods are safe to eat and are necessary and essential if we are going to be able to feed a growing world population. Was there something specific that made him do such an about face? Well, according to Lynas it was simply the science, or essentially lack thereof in proving the dangers of GM crops. He went on to say that “a person is more likely to get hit by an asteroid than to get hurt by GM food”. The debate is far from over though. But perhaps this will spur both sides to work together in creating a world food network that can embrace using the best of both GM technologies and organic farming practices.