Are GMOs Safe - A Science Debate

There appears to be a growing consensus among scientists that GMO food is safe to eat and that GMO opponents are "anti-science." GMO advocates lump GMO opponents with climate deniers and people who refuse to vaccinate their children. But does the science behind GMO safety actually enjoy the same consensus as the evidence that climate change is largely man-made or that smoking cigarettes causes cancer? On this episode of Locus Focus we talk with Meg Turville-Heitz, a former grower and current lecturer in the engineering department of University of Wisconsin at Madison, about why there is a disconnect between scientists who tout GMO safety and a growing majority of consumers who believe that GMOs are dangerous - or least, that their safety is as of yet unproven.

Meg Turville-Heitz is a former grower and water quality planner and currently teaches technical communications at the University of Wisconsin. Her recent research involved a contentious mining project near Lake Superior that would have significant effects on downstream Ojibwe (Chippewa) reservations’ natural resources.