GMO 101
Workshop
Roxi.Beck@FoodIntegrity.org
February 10, 2016
I’m not a farmer… but I used to be.
The Farm to Food Movement…
TO EARN CONSUMER TRUST
IN TODAY’S FOOD SYSTEM
The Center for Food Integrity
CFI strives to:
 Be a Leading Voice in a Balanced Public
Conversation about Food
 Align the Culture of Today’s Food System
 Convene, Empower and Support Food System
Stakeholders
GMO 101
U.S. Adoption of GE Crops, 1996–2013
(HT = herbicide-tolerant; Bt = Bacillus thuringiensis).
What Foods Can Be GMOs?
Salmon
(2015)
What is a GMO?
• No universal, definitive answer
• Taking a specific trait from one plant and using
this trait in another plant for a specific purpose
• Genetic modification has been taking place
for as long as people have been growing
crops for food
• Today’s methods/techniques are more precise
and regulated than any other method
But Are They Safe?
Generally Positive
 The U.S. National Research Council (NRC)
 U.S. National Academy of Sciences (NAS)
 The American Medical Association, (AMA)
 U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
 U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
 European Food Safety authority (EFSA)
 American Society for Plant Biology (ASPB)
 Federation of Animal Science Societies (FASS)
 World Health Organization (WHO)
 Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
 Royal Society (London)
 Brazil National Academy of Science,
 Chinese National Academy of Science
 Indian National Academy of Science
 Mexican Academy of Science
 Third World Academy of Sciences
Generally Negative
What is a GMO?
Recent state-based food labeling activity
Vermont bill passed
2012 Population = 626,011
Recent state-based food labeling activity
Vermont bill passed
2012 Population = 626,011
Theme: Public Opinion
Labeling?
• PRO: Prompted  overwhelming support
• CON: Unprompted  fewer than 1%
Theme: Consumer Choice
Vote with Wallet?
• PRO: Choice is king.
• CON: U.S. consumers can already avoid GE products
by choosing organics. (In countries with mandatory
labeling, GE products have generally been removed
from the market, so choice has been reduced.)
Theme: Right to Know
Tell me the Whole Truth
• PRO: Don’t hide the truth
• CON: Slippery slope
What’s Coming?
Continued Pressure to Label
Labeling Specifics
• Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) grants authority for food
labeling to the FDA in the US
• Production methods or processes that create no material
difference in products require no special labeling.
• Although some may consider the insertion or manipulation of
genes in a laboratory a “material difference” per se, the
science of food safety has not identified differences in the
composition or safety of food derived from commercialized
GE crops that would necessitate mandating a process-based
label on GE food.
• The FDA allows voluntary process-based labeling as long as it
is not false or misleading.
But False, Misleading Labels Do Exist
4
CAFFEINE!!!
Mandatory Labeling: Legal Issues
1. Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution
- forbids individual states from unduly burdening interstate commerce
2. Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution and FDCA Preemption
- federal law prevails in any conflict with state law
3. The First Amendment Protection of Commercial Speech
- prohibits government compulsion of commercial speech unless the
speech is factual, uncontroversial, and reasonably related to a legitimate
government interest.
National GE Labeling Law
• To mandate labeling of GE food, the U.S. would have to
show a scientific health threat to be compliant with
international trade law.
• Many of the GE labeling laws in the 64 countries
around the world that require GE labeling likely violate
the World Trade Organization (WTO) and its 1994
Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Agreement, which
frowns on process-based labels mandating disclosure of
information on production-process issues that do not
relate to food safety.
Transparency in Labeling
Transparency in Labeling
Apples, Potatoes & Salmon… Oh My!
What is a GMO?
Consumers Have
More Questions
Than Ever Before
Why the disconnect?
What changed?
History: The Decline of Trust
History: The Decline of Trust
History: The Decline of Trust
The frequency and visibility of
violations of public trust by
government, military, business and religious
institutions have been consistent enough
over the last five decades to breed broad
public skepticism about
whether or not institutions are
worthy of trust.
What does this have
to do with food?
Consolidated, Integrated, Industrialized
Historical Perspective:
Decline of Trust
THEN
Authority is granted
primarily by office
Broad social consensus
driven by WASP males
NOW
Authority is granted primarily
by relationship
No single social consensus, great
diversity, many voices
0
Communication is
formal, indirect
(mass communication)
Progress is inevitable
“Big” is respected
Communication is
informal, direct (masses
of communicators)
Progress is possible
“Big” is bad
Today’s consumers
Shifting societal attitudes
Many choices, Many voices
Mistrust in farming and food
Desire to know/trust people behind food
The public senses
a change in the way
food is produced
but doesn’t know why
Food is necessary
traditional
personal
What’s the Best Approach?
The Trust Model
Provides Guidance
Building trusts requires
a new approach
CFI Trust Model
CONFIDENCE
TRUST
COMPETENCE
SOCIAL
LICENSE
INFLUENTIAL
OTHERS
FREEDOM
TO
OPERATE
VALUE
SIMILARITY
Trust research was
published in the
December 2009
Journal of
Rural Sociology
What Drives Consumer Trust?
TRUST
Shared values are 3-5x more important in
building trust than sharing facts or
demonstrating technical skills/expertise
“No one cares how much you know,
until they know how much you care.”
- Theodore Roosevelt
Don’t abandon
science and facts
Lead with Shared Values
to Build Trust
Balance for Success
Answering the Wrong Question
Ethical Question (Should)
Science Question (Can)
Balance for Success
The “Mom Tribe” Consumer Panel
What information sources have you used to come to your
conclusions that GMOs are dangerous?
Heidi: “I’m part of a moms
group. When there is a big
consensus, I think ‘there’s
something here.’ You don’t
need doctors or scientists
confirming it when you have
hundreds of moms.”
What drives you?
Are you the
right person?
Who Should Engage on GMOs?
Possible Sources: GMOs
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
An advocacy group
A peer who shares my interests about food
A state government scientist
A university scientist
A farmer
Dr. Oz
A scientist who is a mom
A federal government scientist
A well-known food blogger
A celebrity chef
Someone who is a mom
Level of Trust in Sources of Info: GM Foods
A university
scientist (A)
A scientist who
is a mom (B)
A farmer (C)
(mean=6.66)
10%
48%
11%
11%
0%
0 to 3 (Low Level of Trust)
42%
(mean=6.41)
53%
56%
50%
4 to 7
37%
34%
(mean=6.31)
(n=2005)
100%
8 to 10 (High Level of Trust)
Q19b. Please rate the level of trust you have in the
following sources of information GM Foods using the
scale provided.
Level of Trust in Sources of Info: GM Foods
A peer who
shares my
interests about
food (D)
15%
A state
government
scientist (E)
18%
A federal
government
scientist (F)
20%
0%
0 to 3 (Low Level of Trust)
(mean=5.86)
56%
28%
(mean=5.83)
50%
48%
50%
4 to 7
31%
(mean=5.82)
32%
100%
(n=2005)
8 to 10 (High Level of Trust)
Q19b. Please rate the level of trust you have in the
following sources of information GM Foods using the
scale provided.
Level of Trust in Sources of Info: GM Foods
(mean=5.52)
An advocacy
group (G)
20%
Someone who
is a mom (H)
23%
A well-known
food blogger (I)
27%
0%
0 to 3 (Low Level of Trust)
54%
54%
52%
50%
4 to 7
25%
24%
21%
100%
(mean=5.39)
(mean=5.07)
(n=2005)
8 to 10 (High Level of Trust)
Q19b. Please rate the level of trust you have in the
following sources of information GM Foods using the
scale provided.
Level of Trust in Sources of Information About
Genetically Modified Foods (Continued)
(mean=5.00)
Dr. Oz (J)
31%
44%
25%
(mean=4.92)
A celebrity chef
(K)
30%
0%
0 to 3 (Low Level of Trust)
50%
50%
4 to 7
20%
100%
(n=2005)
8 to 10 (High Level of Trust)
Q19b. Please rate the level of trust you have in the
following sources of information GM Foods using the
scale provided.
Who do consumers
hold accountable
for transparency?
Who Consumers Hold Responsible
Food Companies
Impact of Food on Health
Farmers
Grocery Stores
41
Food Safety
37
Environmental Impact
38
Labor and Human Rights
40
Animal Well-Being
Business Ethics
28
Restaurants
16
28
17
17
37
13
32
49
42
15
15
30
27
12
14
11 10
16
15
Your Voice Is Necessary!
So where do you
find these
consumers?
Food System Issue Sources
Ranked First as Info Source on Food System Issues
Web
Sites 21%
(Highest %
of Top
Source
Mentions
for Early
Adopters)
Local TV
Station
15%
FriendsNot
Online
13%
FamilyNot
Online
13%
Google
10%
What’s the Goal of Communication?
If our only goal is to persuade the activists,
or change their minds, we will lose.
If our first goal is to educate, we lose.
Our Goals Should Be...
Embrace the skepticism
Consumer concerns are real
Perception is their reality
Share your values
How Do You Effectively Engage With
Consumers About Food Issues?
Conversations, not Messages
How: Conversations, not Messages
1. Listen –
Without Judgment
“Most people do not listen with the
intent to understand; they listen
with the intent to reply.
Seek first to understand;
then to be understood.”
- Stephen R. Covey
Not Every Conversation is Meant to Be
What do these people value?
“What I hear about industrial
agriculture affecting our water
supply today is very concerning.
I just have a lot more trust and
respect for local family farmers.”
“All these food recalls are scary.
I want to eat more fresh fruits
and vegetables, but I’m not sure
what is safe anymore.”
“Food prices are challenging. It is
so difficult for me to buy healthy,
affordable food for my family.”
“I only eat organic foods because
they don’t contain GMOs, which
I hear are bad for us.”
2. Ask Questions to Invite Dialogue
2. Ask Questions
to Invite Dialogue
Acknowledge
Shows that you heard the
question or statement
Ask
Ask questions that show you’re working to
understand them better
Acknowledge and Ask
Acknowledge: A phrase that acknowledges you
heard the question or statement
• I hadn’t heard that before…
• I can understand why there’s confusion…
• It’s something I’ve wondered, too…
Ask: A question that shows you’re working
to understand them better.
• How old are your kids?
• Can you tell me where you read/heard/saw
that? I’d love to check it out.
• What concerns you most about <topic>?
• “What” instead of “why”
3. Share Your Perspective
through Values
Person First; Expert Second
Consumers Need Your Help
1. Science doesn’t explain everything or
give consumers all the answers they seek.
2. Communicating in a way that embraces
skepticism, fear and concerns isn’t easy,
but is essential.
3. Those connected to food and agriculture
are perfectly positioned to connect with
consumers. They trust your expertise
and insights.
You make a difference.
Conversations about food and
agriculture are empowered and
enlightened by you: and no one
can tell your story and share
your values the way you can.
Resources
FoodIntegrity.org
CFIEngage.org
BestFoodFacts.org
Thank You!
Roxi.Beck@FoodIntegrity.org
@RoxiBeck