Neil Young is a perennially pissed-off legend of rock, a toe-tapping lyricist who has used his songs to protest a lot of alleged evil over the years. But Young’s latest cause is a sham.
In the past decade, the agrochemical giant Monsanto has become one of the biggest presumed villains in business. Critics blame the company for the rise of genetically modified food, and a related wave of toxic crop runoff and even farmer suicides.
Young joined the fight this summer with a new album, “The Monsanto Years,” and a short film, “Seeding Fear.” They are critical flops and intellectual failures, a case of good music, solid science and one man’s conscience running in opposite directions. The album broke the Billboard Top 40 in June. The film has picked up millions of views online. Young has also been touring.
But the case against GMOs – the case Young has built his art upon – is “full of errors, fallacies, misconceptions, misrepresentations and lies, according to a months-long investigation published this month by Slate.
“The people who tell you that Monsanto is hiding the truth are themselves hiding evidence that their own allegations about GMOs are false,” columnist William Saletan wrote. “They’re counting on you to feel overwhelmed by the science and to accept, as a gut presumption, their message of distrust.”
They’re counting on you to listen to Neil Young, in other words. But this time around, please do not. Your ears and eyes will thank you. Your stomach might too.
The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion and analysis. Read full, original post: Neil Young vs. GMOs: Why the rocker’s latest cause is a sham
