Rounding Up the Facts on GMOs
Are genetically modified food advocates the new "flat-earthers"? Are their opponents the new climate deniers? As with many issues these days, the two sides are working from different sets of facts. Monsanto, the agrochemical company, and other supporters of foods that include genetically modified organisms (GMOs) say using GMOs can promote more nutritious crops, improve farmer livelihood, foster drought tolerance and flood resilience, reduce chemical pesticide use, and end hunger. Food advocates say those claims are false. They note that GMO foods promote industrial monoculture, concentrate corporate power in a few hands and drive the use of glyphosate, which has been labeled a carcinogen by the World Health Organization’s cancer agency and is now the subject of a class action lawsuit in California. Both critics and supporters were displeased by a law passed last year requiring the future labeling of GMO foods.
Join us for a conversation about facts, science and the truth about eating and labeling GMO foods.
The Commonwealth Club
555 Post St.
San Francisco, 94102
United States
Marcia Ishii-Eiteman
Senior Scientist and Director Grassroots Science Program, Pesticide Action Network
Dr. John Purcell
Vice President and Global Research and Development Lead, Monsanto
Scott Hamilton Kennedy
Director, Food Evolution
Austin Wilson
Environmental Health Program Manager, As You Sow
Greg Dalton, Founder and Host
Climate One