A recent NYT piece is titled: G.M.O. Labeling Law Could Stir a Revolution
The main thesis I think is driven by this question:
Has the argument that food production processes are as important as ingredients begun to make sense to policy makers?
Maybe it has. This is exactly why we need to be careful about the learning path that these QR codes provide consumers. Because the truth is the author might have a point here, and snake oil food marketers (i.e. Cliff Bar and Chipotle) will exploit this if they can.
On another note I can't help but comment on the following commentary in the article:
Another problem is that by simplifying the growing of almost
unimaginably large tracts of crops, especially corn and soybeans,
G.M.O.s have become an indispensable crutch for the fertilizer- and
pesticide-dependent monoculture that is wrecking our land and water and
generating the execrable excess of corn- and soy-based junk food that is
sickening our population and decreasing our life spans.
I'd direct interested readers here.
One thing these QR codes have the ability to do is clear up misconceptions and hyperbole like this that tend to keep creeping up.
See also: Big Data + Genomics not = Your Grandparent's Monoculture
No comments:
Post a Comment