Scientist defends use of genetics to modify foods
Geneticist Dr. Alison van Eenennaam knows exactly what image the term “GMO” conjures for most people.
“They see a syringe sticking out of a tomato,” the University of California-Davis biotechnologist said of a genetically modified organism. “The whole suggestion is that scientists are sneaking some kind of poison into food. But it’s really just food.”
On Wednesday night, van Eenennaam fielded questions from a crowd of more than 200 about the debate over genetically engineered foods after a screening of the documentary “Food Evolution” at Ohio State University.
“There’s this fallacy that our food is natural and there’s no science involved with agriculture,” said van Eenennaam. “The story is a red barn and a farmer with pitchfork in hand. That’s not how we grow our food.”
Genetic engineering introduces desirable qualities, such as disease resistance, by inserting DNA into the genetic makeup of crops such as soybean, corn, cotton and canola. Most processed food in the U.S. contains at least one genetically modified ingredient.
In 2015, a majority of the general public said they believed genetically modified foods were generally unsafe to eat, according to a Pew Research analysis. Most of the concerns are about possible adverse effects on human health and the environment, as well as the ethics of artificially modifying plants.
Deliberate deception by the natural food industry, misinformed activism and non-scientific online sources have built up incorrect claims that GMOs pose serious health risks like infertility, AIDs or autism, said Van Eenennaam.
A National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine analysis of two decades of studies concluded the scientific consensus is that genetically modified foods are safe.
“A wedge that big didn’t just happen. All you get as a consumer is the fear mongering,” she said. “How can we have a more nuanced discussion than ‘all GMOs are bad’ “?
Wednesday’s event offered a chance to ask questions about “franken-food” and what young scientists can do to combat food myths.
Ohio State agricultural communication student Thomas Shaw listened closely to her response about how farmers — like his family, who run a dairy operation in Greenville — fit into the GMO debate.
“They say 2 percent of the population feeds the other 98, so of course there’s going to be a lack of knowledge, especially in large urban populations,” Shaw said. Like van Eenennaam, Shaw said he believes documentaries, as well as farmers’ markets and community gardens, play a big role in helping people who live and work outside of agriculture feel closer to food production.