{"id":19227,"date":"2016-12-12T15:49:18","date_gmt":"2016-12-12T15:49:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jomec.co.uk\/intercardiff\/?p=19227"},"modified":"2016-12-12T15:49:18","modified_gmt":"2016-12-12T15:49:18","slug":"gm-crops-for-or-against","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/business-culture\/gm-crops-for-or-against","title":{"rendered":"GM Crops – For or Against?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Should GM food be on the table or not? A question that no one seems to have an answer for.<\/h2>\n

In a world with an ever-increasing population, food security is becoming a major concern. With the global population estimated to be at 9 billion by 2050 genetically modified (GM) food is thought by some to be the only answer to what is being described as a \u2018global crisis\u2019. However, there are groups that would completely disagree and believe GM to not only be unethical or immoral but a ludicrously expensive solution to the lack of food.<\/p>\n

\"gm-crops\"

The issues concerning GM and the global population having enough food on the table were addressed on November 1st here in Cardiff at a conference held by The Royal Society, aptly named \u201cGrowing tomorrows dinner \u2013 should GM be on the table?\u201d.<\/p>\n

It brought together three principal speakers with very differing views on the use and regulations around GM. Stephen Tindale, former Director of Greenpeace UK, Huw Jones, Professor of Translational Genomics for Plant Breeding, Aberystwyth University and Liz O’Neill, Director, GM Freeze.<\/p>\n

Speaking for the \u2018for\u2019 group, Huw Jones stated that he believed \u201cGM should be grown in the field and be available in the supermarket but if it\u2019s on the table should be up to the consumer\u201d. To counter anything at all said by Huw, the director of GM Freeze, Liz O\u2019Neill was on hand. She stated, \u201cPoverty and hunger cannot be solved at the molecular level\u201d and suggested that other holistic approaches need to be more thoroughly explored.<\/p>\n

\"science-gm-crops-gmos\"

What became hugely apparent during the conference was that the \u2018for\u2019 and the \u2018against\u2019 factions and even those that occupied the middle ground were so dead-set in their own beliefs that the conference, which should really have been an open debate, became something akin to a farce.<\/p>\n

Both of the speakers made valid points for and against the use of GM foodstuffs, the real issue was with how the members of the audience interacted with the speakers. Liz came under huge scrutiny as the majority of the audience was made up of pro-GM natural scientists, many of whom were either students or lecturers in Cardiff University.<\/p>\n

One audience member asked Liz \u201cwhat is it that scares you so much about GM?\u201d. Many and more questions were fired at the GM Freeze director who was constantly berated throughout the debate part of the conference.<\/p>\n

Liz herself said \u201cthe process itself isn\u2019t the issue, I don\u2019t have a problem with the science but the regulations that control it\u201d. This however was not enough for the audience who continued to treat her like a bigot for simply suggesting alternatives be explored and a more holistic approach to food scarcity should be employed.<\/p>\n

\"gm-crops-biohazard\"

Huw readily agreed that GM wasn\u2019t the only way forward and when asked if other alternatives to GM, such as waste reduction in the food industry was a viable option he said, \u201cyes other options must be explored, GM isn\u2019t the solution, it\u2019s part of it but new technology in waste reduction hasn\u2019t come on in the way GM has in the last decade\u201d.<\/p>\n

The real issue with GM moving forward is that both the for and against groups are so keen to put the other party back in its place that there is no room for securing solutions to world hunger because as I found from the conference, the thrill of the battle is all too exciting for any progress to be made towards a remedy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Should GM food be on the table or not? A question that no one seems to have an answer for.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":442,"featured_media":19251,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,6,14],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-19227","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-culture","category-global-city","category-politics-social-justice"],"yoast_head":"\nGM Crops - For or Against?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Should GM food be on the table or not? 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