Have you ever seen a “real” banana? Did you know that Kiwis are a twentieth century creation? Despite what the movies would have you believe, Cleopatra never savored a strawberry — strawberries were created artificially long after she died.
Many “natural” foods were, quite literally, invented. The line between “natural” and “artificial” in our food — central to the green movement’s rejection of genetically modified crops and livestock — is murky at best. In this TEDx Talk (view below) plant biotechnologist Jimmy Botella busts some of our dearest food fallacies.
Botella is a Professor of Plant Biotechnology, School of Agriculture and Food Sciences, at the University of Queensland in Australia, where he founded the Plant Genetic Engineering Laboratory specializing in tropical and subtropical agricultural biotechnology.
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Additional Resources:
- “Genetic engineering vs. natural breeding: What’s the difference?” Grist
- “Anti-biotech activists would the let Hawaiian papaya go the way of the Dodo,” Genetic Literacy Project
