Leading Environmental Activist’s Confession: I Was Completely Wrong To Oppose GMOs

[Jon]

Interesting:

If you fear genetically modified food, you may have Mark Lynas to thank. By his own reckoning, British environmentalist helped spur the anti-GMO movement in the mid-‘90s, arguing as recently at 2008 that big corporations’ selfish greed would threaten the health of both people and the Earth. Thanks to the efforts of Lynas and people like him, governments around the world—especially in Western Europe, Asia, and Africa—have hobbled GM research, and NGOs like Greenpeace have spurned donations of genetically modified foods.

But Lynas has changed his mind—and he’s not being quiet about it. On Thursday at the Oxford Farming Conference, Lynas delivered a blunt address: He got GMOs wrong. According to the version of his remarks posted online (as yet, there’s no video or transcript of the actual delivery), he opened with a bang:

http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_te...was_wrong.html

[prakel]

Well, if the report is 'right' (I would like to see an accurate transcript) I can only salute his courage in publicly presenting his changed views; remembering always that I'm assuming -to some extent- that this isn't some cleverly engineered stunt by someone who feels a need reinvent himself in order to generate a new wave of publicity.

[Jon]

Enrolling for celebrity big brother would probably be an easier option in terms of reinventing yourself!

The problem with GM food at the moment is who's in charge and can they be trusted, ie companies like Monsanto who appear to have a virtual monopoly in certain areas at this point?
The frankenfood argument is only used by the seriously ill informed these days.
The technology itself is really clever and could be the answer to a lot of food supply and pesticide issues if managed responsibly.

[prakel]

Enrolling for celebrity big brother would probably be an easier option in terms of reinventing yourself

Maybe this is his opening gambit aimed at getting the invite!

Cynical I suppose, but alarm bells ring for me when I read:

"....and he's not being quiet about it....
delivered a blunt address....
opened with a bang..."

Not the typical backfoot behaviour of someone who's now convinced that he's been publicly talking bull for the greater part of his adult life.

[prakel]

The problem with GM food at the moment is who's in charge and can they be trusted, ie companies like Monsanto who appear to have a virtual monopoly in certain areas at this point?

While I understand this concern I think that it's widely misused by certain people. If there's value in the technology -which I believe there is- then it needs to be implemented by someone, which is always going to be the problem; the 'anti' groups will always challenge the organizations (irrespective of whether they're commercial or governmental) which are pushing the boundaries and investing in further developing the technology because that's the easiest rallying call they have "These greedy people are really bad and want to control YOU".

[gavin]

Well, I'm with 'Matt', a commentator in the discussion on Mark Lynas' own site where he gives a transcript of the talk:

Let’s hope the world gets a little more rational in 2013.

The transcript is here:

http://www.marklynas.org/2013/01/lec...013/#more-1058

and the video of the talk is below. A fascinating account of a journey from blind campaigning to pragmatic rationality and I commend it to everyone.

[James O]

That link doesn't work for me.
There is a transcript here

http://www.ofc.org.uk/files/ofc/pape...conference.pdf