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MEA CULPA

Longtime Processed Food Critic Says He Was Wrong

British environmentalist apologizes

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by PolitixMayday

Staff Writer t

Image: AP

A leading critic of food-processing procedures now says he was wrong on the science. And Mark Lynas says his activism against genetically modified organisms did real damage by smearing an important technological development that could actually help the environment rather than endangering it..

Lynas, credited for getting the anti-GMO movement going in the mid-90s, spoke to the Oxford Farming Conference on Thursday, bluntly apologizing for his campaign against GMOs for several years and confessing that he was simply wrong regarding the politically-charged foods.

"As an environmentalist, and someone who believes that everyone in this world has a right to a healthy and nutritious diet of their choosing," he told the crowd, "I could not have chosen a more counter-productive path. I now regret it completely."

Lynas's movement, spreading throughout Europe, Africa, and Asia, has inspired heavy restrictions, if not outright bans, on GMOs. He now says the movement was explicitly anti-science, and went as far as to compare anti-GMO activists with climate-change deniers.

Via Slate

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Comments (view in Forum)

  • Zazziness
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    You do realize that the only true free market in the world is the black market, right? Before you wish to live in a true free market, ask yourself if you like the type businessman who handles heroin and cocaine, and the tactics they use. That's the free market.
  • u
    XLP
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    @DARSB Well, I think the free market won. Sound like the environmentalist agenda just stifled until science proved them otherwise.
  • u
    XLP
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    @Zazziness Thats true. It could take all forms for different cases and so on... But I take it this guy publicly stated it as in - it is all bad sort of way.

  • View all 34 replies >

  • Zazziness
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    Do we know if any of his close friends or loved ones have suddenly disappeared? Perhaps when they were on a tour of a Monsanto plant?

    Personally, I would mainly like to see labeling on genetically-modified foods so that I can make my own informed choices. That doesn't seem unreasonable, to me.
  • Dan_Tien
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    @Bobolinsky I read a portion of his statement. I saw no reference to genetically engineered strains of plants pollinating natural strands, or that GMO seeds can be patented, giving the owner of those patents power to prevent anyone from growing a variety of plant without paying them, if the unmodified species should become extinct.
  • Bobolinsky
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    @Dan_Tien-- Sounds like you have an issue with Monsanto and hybrids, not GMO's. You might want to read/listen to some more. He goes into that as well as the cost of developing new strains... sort of like how pharmaceutical companies spend millions before they get any return.
  • SavageMazx
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    Nothing better than a good backstrap prepared right. Of course the way thins are going will be hunting with rocks and sticks soon
  • harold_lloyd
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    GM food is about at the stage of Marie Curie with radiation. We don't know enough yet to ask the right questions, and we don't yet know the real hazards.
    Proceed with extreme caution, because loose genes are hard to corral.
    ask the people who live near GM corn about spreading genes accidently.
  • u
    tomincali
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    when the seed producers can mess with a seed so it will produce only once,or the produce you get from the store will not produce from the seed inside i for one am weary of it. there is no way to know what else was done to the seeds.
  • Speedieg
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    We eat as much organic and free range food as possible. I know we are healthier for it but we will have to continue research and have alternative food sources to meet the massive growth in population. Solinent Green is people is a scenario I would like to avoid.
  • PNWest
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    Excellent point. Science is rarely settled. Lot's of folks thought Newton proved everything about gravity until Einstein came along.
  • Jeff_Woehrle
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    @PNWest By its very nature, knowledge gleaned by scientific exploration can only add to understanding, not subtract from it. Hence the inherent risk of public policy guided by the latest fad, be it the safety of GM food or the understanding of climate.
  • myp
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    @Jeff_Woehrle Completely agree with you on this. Lots of people expect science to give immediate facts, when it's really a living, breathing, evolving field. More people need to recognize this as a strength, not a weakness.
  • Russell797
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    What was the scientific basis for his former belief? Science is not something you believe our not. Rather it is a rigorous method from which to develop explanations for physical phenomena which can be regarded as likely true to a certain degree of certainty, always less than 100%. No science is settled to 100% certainty as we can never be sure somewhere, or at some time in the Universe our ideas of reality couldn't fail even once. I know you are alluding to the global warming debate, but that debate does not take place amongst climate scientists, it is rather carried out in the general public. Climate scientists are approach 95% certainty to the following proposition, "The climate is actively warming and mankind's activities are largely the cause of that warming".....That's it..that is the consensus. The consensus says nothing as to the severity of the issue. However, the range of UNCERTAINTY is large regarding climate sensitivity to a doubling of CO2 and therein lies the problem. That range includes mild to sever consequences. We are playing Russian Roulette with our descendents future as well as the welfare of the greater biosphere.
  • Russell797
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    @PNWest Yes, but Newton was not wrong. His model works marvelously in everyday life, yet Einstein's model is more precise and describes a deeper understanding, and his may not be the end of it either.

  • View all 8 replies >

  • mudpike
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    It's not by accident . Our Gov't. wants to stop any type of dependency . Millions depend on the supermarkets , projects , welfare or Section 8, etc. to survive . Millions more outside of the major urban ghetto - entitlement environments are far more capable of getting by on their own . The elitist Lords of both parties need to stop this. Example ; hybrid vegetable plants , the Farm Bill - paying farmers 'not' to raise food or meat , Bills prohibiting pellet stoves or supplying your own power or heat ,- even prohibiting in some places from catching & re-usuing rain water . The push is really on to make us all dependent on these new-age Elitist- Lords to live. If their ghetto voter base can't live without da gub'mint to survive - neither should the rest of us . It ain't happenin like that.
  • PoliticalSpice
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    Its the industry, they object and the govt refuses to require it. Most corn and soy products in the u.s. market are gmo. Much of the meat you eat is fed with gmo corn. Several vegtables are gmo, and they want to do it now to salmon...
  • RoyFloyd
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    Just label food, and let the consumer decide. Stop the Monsanto tactic of bullying litigation against farmers and companies that dare to announce their product hormone-free or non-GM.
  • jessejaymes
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    In related news a certain British Food Critic was seen depositing a check for 2 million pounds at his local bank three days before his speech.
  • u
    RealityOne
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    This seems pretty suspicious. Especially since a French study thast you will NEVER hear about on the cable news networks recently linked GMOs to tumor growth.

    from RT:

    "French scientists have revealed that rats fed on GMO corn sold by American firm Monsanto, suffered tumors and other complications including kidney and liver damage. When testing the firm’s top brand weed killer the rats showed similar symptoms.
    The French government has asked its health and safety agency to assess the study and had also sent it to the European Union's food safety agency, Reuters reports.
    "Based on the conclusion…, the government will ask the European authorities to take all necessary measures to protect human and animal health, measures that could go as far as an emergency suspension of imports of NK603 maize in the European Union," the French health, environment and farm ministries said in a joint statement."
  • u
    tomincali
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    there is a lot more to this than they are saying. i would have to look it up again to get the name of the seed company that sells one use seeds where before a farmer could use the seeds off the crop to sew again now each year more seeds have to be bought and from what i understand these folks hold the market on almost all seeds that are not heirloom.

    whatever they put into that seed that does this has to be hurting something.
  • u
    RealityOne
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    @tomincali

    From what I understand is that in the 90s, Monsanto hired people to go around and throw GMO seeds in farmer's crops. The seed is so prolific, that all it takes is a few seeds to completely take over the field in a few seasons. Now that seed is patented and is readily identifiable as the Mosanto GMO seed. And Monsanto sues farmers all the time for saving seeds from their crops. This is part of their patent and it ensures the farmer will always need to buy more seed. So these farmers saving seeds from their sabotaged crops get sued. And more GMO garbage is put on the dinner table.
  • u
    RealityOne
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    The very fact that they are unwilling to give us a choice is pretty revealing. I find it hard to believe that some Americans cannot put two and two together on this. Meanwhile cancer and infertility rate continue to rise. When you are eating manipulated RNA (which survives the digestion process) to can effect organ function. Since some of these manipulations cause the GMO plant to produce persticide within the plant itself, it COULD be possible for the flora in our digestive tracts to produce the same pesticide, essentially creating toxic sludge that makes you constantly ill.

    When it comes to MY children, I am unwilling to take that chance with them. And since I want to see my grandkids, I try to eat organic and local food as much as possible.
  • u
    CommonSense
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    Are all GMOs created equal?
    What studies proved him wrong and did they cover every single instance of genetic modification?
    In humans some genes will cause good things, some will cause bad things, some are a mixed bag.
    Why would it be different in the world of genetically modified foods? It's likely that some GMOs are actually healthier, whereas others cause tumors and other problems.
    GMOs shouldn't be completely illegal, but they should have to get FDA approval and go through thorough studies before they are sold for eating.
  • jamayla
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    GMO or not, I have a problem with Monsanto's strangle hold on nature alone. If GMOs are as innocuous as they claim and such a boon to our food supply, why not allow it to proliferate any way it can? Oh, that's right. The Nazi's demand their gold.
  • o
    woodtick57
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    Often times it has to do with the fact that they cannot guarantee that the progeny will follow true. this happens with many of the copyrighted hybrids in the horticulture industry such as flowers or fruits.

    Plus, people like to get paid for their work, i wouldn't imagine you give your efforts away for free...
  • jamayla
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    @woodtick57 I have studied horticulture and botany for many years and am familiar with the "untying" of strains of hybridized plants. After many generations of reverse engineering you will eventually end up with the foundation strains that originally came together to create the hybrid. My question to Monsanto would be what is the harm of allowing anyone to save the gmo seeds when the resulting crop will not come true from the seed? So what if they split back to what was used to create them? When one company controls one of the largest base grains in our food supply, they have far too much control period.
  • o
    woodtick57
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    @jamayla Do you really want genetically modified organisms able to reproduce naturally? Have you heard of the herbicide resistant prerennial grass that got loose in Oregon? perennial GMOs could really cause havoc, annual plants, not nearly so much, eh?
  • jamayla
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    @woodtick57 Are you aware what percentage of corn sold for human consumption is GMO? I suggest you look that up, it will answer your question.

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    Mogal
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    I've been a gardener for 40 years, I dont believe in GMO's, when you cant harvest the seed from a plant, plant that seed and get another plant, there is something very wrong in the universe.
    Seems to me Monsanto got to this guy.
  • o
    Mogal
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    @woodtick57 -The thing is, companies like Monsanto, who I am very sad to say is heaquartered on my beloved St Louis, want to corner the market, if you will, so NO ONE can harvest seed and re-use it.
    This is one of my pet gripes, as I grow and preserve or freeze enough produce on our farm to get us through the year without having to go buy.
  • o
    Mogal
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    @woodtick57 - I come from a family of farmers for generations.....I know that there are practices one can use without having to resort to pesticides and herbicides.

  • View all 15 replies >

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