Another Green Comes to His Senses on GMOs

[Valin]

Via Meadia:

Jun 11, 2015

 

The former head of Greenpeace UK voiced strong support for genetically modified crops recently. Stephen Tindale was the Executive Director of the UK branch of the global green advocacy group from 2000 to 2006, but unlike many of his eco-ilk seems willing to re-examine his beliefs.

 

Speaking on the BBC One television show Panorama, he said he thought it was “morally unacceptable to stand out against these new technologies…I worry for Greenpeace and the other green groups because they could, by taking such a hard line on GM, they could be seen to be putting ideology before the need for humanitarian action.

 

”He’s of course referring to genetically modified crops’ ability to feed more of humanity than their lower-tech counterparts—GM crops can produce higher yields on smaller acreage in harsher conditions with fewer pesticides. Study after study has shown them to be safe, which leaves the GM opposition crowd with only ideological biases against what they perceive as “unnatural” to stand on (though how they can view an organic apple, the product of centuries of selective breeding, as somehow wholesomely natural is something you’ll have to ask them). The strength of that non-scientific, emotional ideology withers when it runs up against a technology that could help feed millions of starving people.

 

(Snip)

[Draggingtree]