What's So Controversial about Genetically Modified Food?
What's So Controversial about Genetically Modified Food?

Author: John T. Lang

Publisher: Reaktion Books

Published: 2016-08-15

Total Pages: 178

ISBN-13: 1780236689

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The rampant use of genetically modified food incites public debate among activists, ethicists, scientists, regulators, and industry representatives. While proponents portray genetic modification as scientific progress, opponents reframe it as a form of perverted science. But why is it so controversial? This timely and balanced book explores the many myths and arguments surrounding this extremely topical issue. Written in an accessible style, free of technical jargon, it examines the science behind genetic modification and the controversies that reflect ongoing tensions between social and political power, democratic practice and corporate responsibility. It shows how food is deeply imbued with religious, social, cultural and ethical meanings, which bring a variety of non-scientific debates to the forefront, and also connects GM food to other issues such as globalization of food and corporate concentration. While our modern, mechanized, centralized and globalized infrastructure produces enormous amounts and varieties of food available at our convenience, it also produces irreducible social vulnerability and undeniable uncertainty. All those who care about where their food comes from and how it is produced will enjoy this stimulating book. -- Provided by publisher.

GM Crops and the Global Divide
GM Crops and the Global Divide

Author: Jennifer Thomson

Publisher: Cabi

Published: 2020-12-04

Total Pages: 200

ISBN-13: 9781789248401

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Attitudes to GM crops continue to generate tension, even though they have been grown commercially for over 20 years. Negative sentiment towards their development limits their adoption in Western countries, despite there being no evidence of harm to human health. These unfounded concerns about genetically modified crops have also inhibited uptake in many countries throughout Africa and Asia, having a major impact on agricultural productivity and preventing the widespread cultivation of potentially life-saving crops. GM Crops and the Global Divide traces the historical importance that European attitudes to past colonial influences, aid, trade and educational involvement have had on African leaders and their people. The detrimental impact that these attitudes have on agricultural productivity and food security continues to be of growing importance, especially in light of climate change, drought and the potential rise in sea levels - the effects of which could be mitigated by the cultivation of GM and gene-edited crops. Following on from her previous books Genes for Africa, GM Crops: The Impact and the Potential, and Food for Africa:The Life and Work of a Scientist in GM Crops, Jennifer Thomson unravels the reasons behind these negative attitudes towards GM crop production. By addressing the detrimental effects that anti-GM opinions have on nutrition security in developing countries and providing a clear account of the science to counter these attitudes, she hopes to highlight and ultimately bridge this global divide.

Food Fray
Food Fray

Author: Lisa H. WEASEL Ph.D.

Publisher: AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn

Published: 2008-12-10

Total Pages: 258

ISBN-13: 0814401783

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More than ten years ago, the first genetically modified foods took their place on the shelves of American supermarkets. But while American consumers remained blissfully unconcerned with the new products that suddenly filled their kitchens, Europeans were much more wary of these “Frankenfoods.” When famine struck Africa in 2002, several nations refused shipments of genetically modified foods, fueling a controversy that put the issue on the world's political agenda for good. In Food Fray, esteemed molecular biologist Dr. Lisa H. Weasel brings readers into the center of this debate, capturing the real-life experiences of the scientists, farmers, policymakers and grassroots activists on the front lines. Here she combines solid scientific knowledge and a gripping narrative to tell the real story behind the headlines and the hype. Seminal and cutting-edge, Food Fray enlightens and informs and will allow readers to make up their own minds about one of the most important issues facing us today.

GMOs Decoded
GMOs Decoded

Author: Sheldon Krimsky

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 2019-03-12

Total Pages: 215

ISBN-13: 0262039192

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The debate over genetically modified organisms: health and safety concerns, environmental impact, and scientific opinions. Since they were introduced to the market in the late 1990s, GMOs (genetically modified organisms, including genetically modified crops), have been subject to a barrage of criticism. Agriculture has welcomed this new technology, but public opposition has been loud and scientific opinion mixed. In GMOs Decoded, Sheldon Krimsky examines the controversies over GMOs—health and safety concerns, environmental issues, the implications for world hunger, and the scientific consensus (or lack of one). He explores the viewpoints of a range of GMO skeptics, from public advocacy groups and nongovernmental organizations to scientists with differing views on risk and environmental impact. Krimsky explains the differences between traditional plant breeding and “molecular breeding” through genetic engineering (GE); describes early GMO products, including the infamous Flavr Savr tomato; and discusses herbicide-, disease-, and insect-resistant GE plants. He considers the different American and European approaches to risk assessment, dueling scientific interpretations of plant genetics, and the controversy over labeling GMO products. He analyzes a key 2016 report from the National Academies of Sciences on GMO health effects and considers the controversy over biofortified rice (Golden Rice)—which some saw as a humanitarian project and others as an exercise in public relations. Do GMO crops hold promise or peril? By offering an accessible review of the risks and benefits of GMO crops, and a guide to the controversies over them, Krimsky helps readers judge for themselves.

Public Engagement on Genetically Modified Organisms
Public Engagement on Genetically Modified Organisms

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2015-07-07

Total Pages: 144

ISBN-13: 0309374243

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The National Research Council's Roundtable on Public Interfaces of the Life Sciences held a 2-day workshop on January 15-16, 2015, in Washington, DC to explore the public interfaces between scientists and citizens in the context of genetically engineered (GE) organisms. The workshop presentations and discussions dealt with perspectives on scientific engagement in a world where science is interpreted through a variety of lenses, including cultural values and political dispositions, and with strategies based on evidence in social science to improve public conversation about controversial topics in science. The workshop focused on public perceptions and debates about genetically engineered plants and animals, commonly known as genetically modified organisms (GMOs), because the development and application of GMOs are heavily debated among some stakeholders, including scientists. For some applications of GMOs, the societal debate is so contentious that it can be difficult for members of the public, including policy-makers, to make decisions. Thus, although the workshop focused on issues related to public interfaces with the life science that apply to many science policy debates, the discussions are particularly relevant for anyone involved with the GMO debate. Public Engagement on Genetically Modified Organisms: When Science and Citizens Connect summarizes the presentations and discussion of the workshop.

Seeds of Science
Seeds of Science

Author: Mark Lynas

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2018-04-05

Total Pages: 305

ISBN-13: 1472946952

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'Fluent, persuasive and surely right.' Evening Standard The inside story of the fight for and against genetic modification in food. Mark Lynas was one of the original GM field wreckers. Back in the 1990s – working undercover with his colleagues in the environmental movement – he would descend on trial sites of genetically modified crops at night and hack them to pieces. Two decades later, most people around the world – from New York to China – still think that 'GMO' foods are bad for their health or likely to damage the environment. But Mark has changed his mind. This book explains why. In 2013, in a world-famous recantation speech, Mark apologised for having destroyed GM crops. He spent the subsequent years touring Africa and Asia, and working with plant scientists who are using this technology to help smallholder farmers in developing countries cope better with pests, diseases and droughts. This book lifts the lid on the anti-GMO craze and shows how science was left by the wayside as a wave of public hysteria swept the world. Mark takes us back to the origins of the technology and introduces the scientific pioneers who invented it. He explains what led him to question his earlier assumptions about GM food, and talks to both sides of this fractious debate to see what still motivates worldwide opposition today. In the process he asks – and answers – the killer question: how did we all get it so wrong on GMOs? 'An important contribution to an issue with enormous potential for benefiting humanity.' Stephen Pinker 'I warmly recommend it.' Philip Pullman

Food Fight
Food Fight

Author: Mckay Jenkins

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2018-02-13

Total Pages: 337

ISBN-13: 1101982209

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Are GMOs really that bad? A prominent environmental journalist takes a fresh look at what they actually mean for our food system and for us. In the past two decades, GMOs have come to dominate the American diet. Advocates hail them as the future of food, an enhanced method of crop breeding that can help feed an ever-increasing global population and adapt to a rapidly changing environment. Critics, meanwhile, call for their banishment, insisting GMOs were designed by overeager scientists and greedy corporations to bolster an industrial food system that forces us to rely on cheap, unhealthy, processed food so they can turn an easy profit. In response, health-conscious brands such as Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods have started boasting that they are “GMO-free,” and companies like Monsanto have become villains in the eyes of average consumers. Where can we turn for the truth? Are GMOs an astounding scientific breakthrough destined to end world hunger? Or are they simply a way for giant companies to control a problematic food system? Environmental writer McKay Jenkins traveled across the country to answer these questions and discovered that the GMO controversy is more complicated than meets the eye. He interviewed dozens of people on all sides of the debate—scientists hoping to engineer new crops that could provide nutrients to people in the developing world, Hawaiian papaya farmers who credit GMOs with saving their livelihoods, and local farmers in Maryland who are redefining what it means to be “sustainable.” The result is a comprehensive, nuanced examination of the state of our food system and a much-needed guide for consumers to help them make more informed choices about what to eat for their next meal.

Lords Of The Harvest
Lords Of The Harvest

Author: Dan Charles

Publisher: Basic Books

Published: 2008-08-04

Total Pages: 390

ISBN-13: 0786723769

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Once confined to the research laboratory, the genetic engineering of plants is now a big business that is changing the face of modern agriculture. Giant corporations are creating designer crops with strange powers-from cholesterol-reducing soybeans to plants that act as miniature drug factories, churning out everything from vaccines to insulin. They promise great benefits: better health for consumers, more productive agriculture-even an end to world hunger. But the vision has a dark side, one of profit-driven tampering with life and the possible destruction of entire ecosystems. In Lords of the Harvest, Daniel Charles takes us deep inside research labs, farm sheds, and corporate boardrooms to reveal the hidden story behind this agricultural revolution. He tells how a handful of scientists at Monsanto drove biotechnology from the lab into the field, and how the company's opponents are fighting back with every tool available to them, including the cynical manipulation of public fears. A dramatic account of boundless ambition, political intrigue, and the quest for knowledge, Lords of the Harvest is ultimately a story of idealism and of conflicting dreams about the shape of a better world.

Agricultural and Food Controversies
Agricultural and Food Controversies

Author: F. Bailey Norwood

Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

Published: 2015

Total Pages: 169

ISBN-13: 0199368422

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In Agricultural and Food Controversies: What Everyone Needs to Know, agricultural researchers present both sides of heavily debated agricultural and food issues. They answer questions and explain scholarly and scientific research on topics such as organic food, the safety of pesticides, livestock living conditions, the use of antibiotics in livestock intended for consumption, the effect of agriculture on the environment, and more.

Genetically Engineered Crops
Genetically Engineered Crops

Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2017-01-28

Total Pages: 607

ISBN-13: 0309437385

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Genetically engineered (GE) crops were first introduced commercially in the 1990s. After two decades of production, some groups and individuals remain critical of the technology based on their concerns about possible adverse effects on human health, the environment, and ethical considerations. At the same time, others are concerned that the technology is not reaching its potential to improve human health and the environment because of stringent regulations and reduced public funding to develop products offering more benefits to society. While the debate about these and other questions related to the genetic engineering techniques of the first 20 years goes on, emerging genetic-engineering technologies are adding new complexities to the conversation. Genetically Engineered Crops builds on previous related Academies reports published between 1987 and 2010 by undertaking a retrospective examination of the purported positive and adverse effects of GE crops and to anticipate what emerging genetic-engineering technologies hold for the future. This report indicates where there are uncertainties about the economic, agronomic, health, safety, or other impacts of GE crops and food, and makes recommendations to fill gaps in safety assessments, increase regulatory clarity, and improve innovations in and access to GE technology.