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The UK House Of Commons-Style Debate
THE IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNICATION
Debate on the first motion kicked
off by Gareth Harding, editor of the
Brussels-based website
Thiseurope.com. In support of a
motion ‘Europe's problem with GM
crops came from poor communication’,
Harding lamented the disinformation
that he said had been spread by
green pressure groups resisting the
use of genetically modified crops
and ready to play people’s
superstitions. “I am a committed
environmentalist and an anti-poverty
campaigner – which is precisely why
I am in favour of GM crops,” he
said, calling on politicians and
even industry to do way more to
combat public ignorance and fill a
dangerous policy vacuum.
However, Patricia Osseweijer,
managing director of the Kluyver
Centre for Genomics of Industrial
Fermentation in Delft, The
Netherlands, said communication
about biotechnology had mainly been
too little, too late. “Scientists
had started genetic engineering by
the end of the 1960s,” she said,
“but for a very long time they
failed to tell consumers they were
doing it.” By the time they found
out, she said, the trust was gone.
Many participants agreed poor
communication was not the problem.
Pulling out his own phone, one
participant said the success of the
mobile phone showed that consumers
are willing to take small risks as
long as they see clear benefits.
Companies making biotech crops,
however, have failed to demonstrate
such benefits, he said. Adding to
the argument, another participant
suggested Monsanto should merge with
Pfizer to create soy beans that
contain Viagra. Participants on the
other side stressed the
environmental benefits of some
biotech crops are very real, yet
poorly communicated to the public.
One debater blamed the problems on a
shortage of objects that can be
safely hated, a bigotry vacuum that
was filled by anti-GM activists by
sowing a hatred of genes, he said.
On a more serious note, it was
suggested that the EU’s subsidies
for traditional crops ultimately
caused European distrust for GMO
crops. |
Proponent -
Gareth Harding
Opponent -
Patricia Osseweijer
Audience participation |
