The cultural roots of the US/EU divide on GMOs

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(via The Economist)

(Summary)

Why is “GMO” a dirty word in Europe? The Economist addresses the cultural and historical factors behind why European consumers appear to reject foods made with advanced agricultural technology while Americans are largely indifferent about how their foods are produced. “Rivals in other lands have sniffy theories about why America, a rich country, is so good at producing cheap food,” the Economist writes. “They paint American farmers as pawns of giant agri-corproations, bullied by market forces to produce genetically modified Frankenfoods.” But that’s simplistic and self-righteous, the article contends. Americans tend to treat their food as a commodity, rather than fuss about where it came from as Europeans tend to. Many American youth see agriculture as cutting edge science, which is unheard of in more urbanized Europe. “America set out to plant science and capitalism in its farm kids,” it writes. “They have taken deep root.”

“Such differences in history and culture have lingering consequences,” the article says.

 

Read the full, original story here: “Farming as a rocket science: Why American agriculture is different than the European variety” 

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