A compelling narrative often makes a good engine to pull public policy. Unfortunately, this means we are sometimes unwilling to let facts get in the way of the story we want to tell.
Consider, for example, the science and pseudo-science behind the ginned-up opposition to genetically modified crops (“organisms” in the parlance of critics who want to skip past the detail that crops are useful for feeding people), or GMOs.
Out in the real world, genetically engineered crops are helping to boost yields, reduce pesticide spraying and its associated runoff, improve product quality and conserve water and soil. Farmers, agronomists and biologists know this. But their voices are often drowned out by critics whose main objections appear to be economic and political (some people just don’t like it when other people make money), but who wrap their agenda in claims of health problems, genetic contamination and “superweeds” whose actual existence is about as well documented as Sasquatch.
Read the full, original article: Spinning Yarns About Genetically Modified Crops
