Teen Anti-GMO Crusader Rachel Parent: Idealist Or Pawn Of Father's Supplement Business?

This story is co-authored with David Warmflash, physician and science writer. Imagine. You come home after a hard day at school. You're hungry, so you reach for a bag of delicious corn chips. You don't know what's in there because there's no label, so you eat it... OMG, there's GMOs in it! You didn't know! You might be harmed! That's why we need food labeling, to protect innocent children being targeted by evil corporations! It all boils down to one pitch line: "You have a right to know what's in your food." That's the gist of anti-GMO campaigner Rachel Parent's stump speech, delivered at schools and on television programs around the world. She's only 16 years old, but the Canadian high school student has become a canny international crusader in the effort to protect the world against the ecological and health dangers of foods made from genetically engineered crops. She may be the organic industry's most important weapon in convincing the public that genetically modified foods should be labeled. (Watch TedX talk here). I was shocked to learn that our government wasn't doing any independent studies on GMOs but was relying on studies by the biotech companies, the very companies that stood stand to gain from their approval. I decided a good place to start was to create awareness of GMOs, the potential risks to our health and the environment, and to demand labeling, so people would have the freedom to choose if they want to avoid eating them. Parent is an excellent presen...
Source: Science - The Huffington Post - Category: Science Source Type: news