To the Editor,
Re: Editorial cartoon, April 16.
It was with great sadness I saw you paper’s editorial cartoon.
Media has a responsibility to present facts about subjects, yet all the cartoon does is undermine the real science and perpetuate the negative myths about genetically-modified crops and food.
A short fact checking or a phone call to someone with expert knowledge in GM crops and food would have quickly demonstrated the pseudo-science behind the cartoon.
The American Association for the Advancement of Science recently said: “Moreover, the AAAS Board said, the World Health Organization, the American Medical Association, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, the British Royal Society, and every other respected organization that has examined the evidence has come to the same conclusion: consuming foods containing ingredients derived from GM crops is no riskier than consuming the same foods containing ingredients from crop plants modified by conventional plant improvement techniques.”
The World Health Organization was equally clear when it said: “GM foods currently available on the international market have passed risk assessments and are not likely to present risks for human health. In addition, no effects on human health have been shown as a result of the consumption of such foods by the general population in the countries where they have been approved.”
Carl Sagan said it best: “We’ve arranged a global civilization in which most crucial elements profoundly depend on science and technology. We have also arranged things so that almost no one understands science and technology. This is a prescription for disaster. We might get away with it for a while, but sooner or later this combustible mixture of ignorance and power is going to blow up in our faces.”
Continuing to vilify GM crops and food even after 25 years of safety testing, and zero evidence of harm from consuming food made with GM crops, does not serve the public well.
Robert Wager
Nanaimo
