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I really didn't want to get into it with the anti-GMO advocates at the farmer's market. And I wouldn't have if they hadn't pressed me. But the guy seem genuinely surprised that I didn't want to sign a petition urging Durbin to oppose what he called "the DARK Act" (anti-GMO cant for the Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act of 2014). I told him that I didn't like siding with a corporation as nasty as Monsanto, but that I found the anti-GMO hysteria even worse.
His arguments were laughable. He first asked me, "If GMOs are safe, why would corporations opposed labeling them?" To which I pointed out that there were a lot of people who believed they weren't safe, which would have a negative effect on sales. The follow-up question really floored me: "If they weren't dangerous, why would people think they were?" And I was like, "Have you never been on the Internet? Why are there anti-vaxxers?"
One of the other activists heard this and said, "Oh well, they're crazy." "So they're crazy but the anti-GMO crowd aren't?" She told me that she didn't buy into the hysteria and for her it was "a consumer advocacy issue". I told her I thought there should be a more compelling reason for mandating companies label something than that a lot of people wanted them to. Then a third chimed in, saying, "Look at expiration dates. They didn't used to be required, and the information on them isn't really accurate." "So we should put more useless information on labels?"
At this point, I took a cheap parting shot and made my getaway. If those are their best arguments, then I can only assume they're getting very little informed pushback from their targets. Depressing, but what else would you expect?
His arguments were laughable. He first asked me, "If GMOs are safe, why would corporations opposed labeling them?" To which I pointed out that there were a lot of people who believed they weren't safe, which would have a negative effect on sales. The follow-up question really floored me: "If they weren't dangerous, why would people think they were?" And I was like, "Have you never been on the Internet? Why are there anti-vaxxers?"
One of the other activists heard this and said, "Oh well, they're crazy." "So they're crazy but the anti-GMO crowd aren't?" She told me that she didn't buy into the hysteria and for her it was "a consumer advocacy issue". I told her I thought there should be a more compelling reason for mandating companies label something than that a lot of people wanted them to. Then a third chimed in, saying, "Look at expiration dates. They didn't used to be required, and the information on them isn't really accurate." "So we should put more useless information on labels?"
At this point, I took a cheap parting shot and made my getaway. If those are their best arguments, then I can only assume they're getting very little informed pushback from their targets. Depressing, but what else would you expect?