A multi-million dollar initiative has been launched in America to boost the public’s understanding of biotechnology.
The Agricultural Biotechnology Education and Outreach Initiative will see the U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the U.S Department of Agriculture (USDA) spend $3 million to engage people on the big issues.
“Plants, food, and food ingredients developed using genetic engineering were introduced into the U.S. food supply in the 1990s. Public and private sector scientists knowledgeable in genetic engineering, toxicology, chemistry, nutrition, and other scientific areas have carefully evaluated and assessed the safety of these products and have determined that such products are safe for human and animal consumption,” the FDA said.
The $3 million project plans to spread this message.
It is one which is in line with a study released earlier this year ‘GM Crops: Global Socio-Economic and Environmental Impacts 1996-2015’ from PG Economics which revealed biotech crops are helping to slash harmful greenhouse gas emissions while at the same time injecting tens of billions of dollars into the global agricultural industry.
To get this type of information out to the wider public, an international network of unpaid experts is using the online platform GMO Answers – backed by The Council for Biotechnology – to answer their questions and debunk the myths about GM crops.
While movie makers are also doing their bit to encourage debate.
