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((Short description|Conspiracy theories related to GMOs))
((Use mdy dates|date=March 2020))
((Genetic engineering sidebar))

'''GMO conspiracy theories''' are [[conspiracy theories]] related to the production and sale of [[genetically modified crops]] and [[genetically modified food]] (also referred to as [[genetically modified organism]]s or "GMOs"). These conspiracy theories include claims that agribusinesses, especially [[Monsanto]], have suppressed data showing that GMOs cause harm, deliberately cause food shortages to promote the use of GM food, or have co-opted government agencies such as the United States [[Food and Drug Administration]] or scientific societies such as the [[American Association for the Advancement of Science]]. 

Critics charge that GMO conspiracy theories are largely promulgated by those opposing the production and sale of GMOs, and instances of unsubstantiated conspiracy theories have lately occurred in the context of public health issues that are mostly unrelated to GMOs, including the [[Zika virus outbreak (2015–present)|2015–16 Zika virus outbreak]] and concerns over [[Chipotle Mexican Grill#Food safety|food safety at Chipotle Mexican Grill]].

==Context==
The existence of conspiracy theories relating to the fear over GMOs has been attested to by scientists, journalists, and skeptics who oppose much anti-GMO activism. Such commentators include [[Michael Shermer]] (writer of a monthly ''Skeptic'' column series for ''[[Scientific American]]''),<ref name=":0">Shermer, Michael. "Conspiracy Central." Scientific American 311.6 (2014): 94–94.</ref> [[Mark Lynas]] (an environmental activist and writer who opposed GMOs for years and recently switched positions),<ref name="Lynas">((cite web|url=http://www.marklynas.org/2013/04/time-to-call-out-the-anti-gmo-conspiracy-theory/|title=Time to call out the anti-GMO conspiracy theory|publisher=marklynas.org|author=Mark Lynas|date=29 April 2013|access-date=31 January 2016|archive-date=February 24, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200224150629/http://www.marklynas.org/2013/04/time-to-call-out-the-anti-gmo-conspiracy-theory/|url-status=dead))</ref> and [[Jon Entine]] (the founder and head of an advocacy organization dedicated to advancing the case in favor of genetic engineering in agriculture and biotechnology).<ref name=":1">((cite web | url=https://www.geneticliteracyproject.org/2015/05/11/why-gmos-challenging-anti-technology-conspiracy-theories/ |title=Why GMOs? Challenging anti-technology conspiracy theories|publisher=geneticliteracyproject.org|author=Jon Entine| date=11 May 2015|access-date=31 January 2016))</ref> Academics writing about bioethics and science communication have also taken note. 

A 2013 paper published in the journal ''[[PLOS ONE]]'' found statistical evidence that linked conspiracy theorist ideation as being a significant factor in the rejection of scientific propositions about genetically engineered food.<ref>((Cite journal|last1=Lewandowsky|first1=Stephan|last2=Gignac|first2=Gilles E.|last3=Oberauer|first3=Klaus|title=The Role of Conspiracist Ideation and Worldviews in Predicting Rejection of Science|journal=PLOS ONE|volume=8|issue=10|pages=e75637|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0075637|pmc=3788812|pmid=24098391|year=2013|bibcode=2013PLoSO...875637L|doi-access=free))</ref> One GMO conspiracy theory was identified by biochemist Paul Christou and horticulturalist Harry Klee as a claim that development and promotion of GMOs was done by pesticide companies to cause crops to become more vulnerable to pests and therefore require more pesticides,<ref>((cite book|author1=Paul Christou|author2=Harry Klee|title=Handbook of plant biotechnology|chapter=Chapter 50: Political and Social Risk Amplification of GMOs|year=2004|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-0-471-85199-8|doi=10.1002/0470869143))</ref> while philosopher Juha Räikkä identified a conspiracy theory that claims the lack of any reliable scientific evidence that show harmful effects of GMOs is due not to a lack of evidence but rather to a conspiracy to hide that evidence.<ref name="Raikka">((cite journal |last=Räikkä |first=Juha |date=2009 |title=The Ethics of Conspiracy Theorizing |journal=The Journal of Value Inquiry |volume=43 |issue=4 |pages=457–468 |doi= 10.1007/s10790-009-9189-1|s2cid=145662770 ))</ref>

Conspiracy theories involving GMOs and their promoters have been invoked in a variety of contexts. For example, in commenting on the [[Séralini affair]], an incident that involved the retraction of a much-criticized paper which claimed harmful effects of GMOs in lab rats, American biologist [[PZ Myers]] said that anti-GMO activists were claiming the retraction was a part of "a conspiracy to Hide the Truth™".<ref>((Cite web|title = Belated retraction of Seralini's bad anti-GMO paper|url = http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2013/11/29/belated-retraction-of-seralinis-bad-anti-gmo-paper/|website = Pharyngula|access-date = 2016-01-31))</ref> A work seeking to explore risk perception over GMOs in [[Turkey]] identified a belief among the conservative political and religious figures who were opposed to GMOs that GMOs were "a conspiracy by Jewish Multinational Companies and Israel for world domination"<ref>((Cite journal|title = Worldviews and discursive construction of GMO-related risk perceptions in Turkey|journal = Public Understanding of Science|date = 2013-02-01|issn = 0963-6625|pmid = 23833021|pages = 137–154|volume = 22|issue = 2|doi = 10.1177/0963662511423334|first1 = Giuseppe A.|last1 = Veltri|first2 = Ahmet K.|last2 = Suerdem|hdl = 2381/28216|s2cid = 22893955| url=https://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/10173569 |hdl-access = free))</ref> while a [[Latvia]]n study showed that a segment of the population of that country believed that GMOs were part of a greater conspiracy theory to poison the population of the country.<ref>((Cite journal|volume=10|pages=00048|doi=10.1051/shsconf/20141000048|year=2014|last1=Utinans|first1=A.|title=Belief in the paranormal and modern health worries|journal=SHS Web of Conferences|last2=Ancane|first2=G.|doi-access=free))</ref>

A study of media rhetorical devices used in [[Hunan]], China found that the news articles that were opposed to trials of [[golden rice]] promoted conspiracy theories "including the view that the West was using genetic engineering to establish global control over agriculture and that GM products were instruments for genocide".<ref>((Cite journal|last1=Yang|first1=Jinjie|last2=Xu|first2=Kaibin|last3=Rodriguez|first3=Lulu|date=2014-05-19|title=The rejection of science frames in the news coverage of the golden rice experiment in Hunan, China|journal=Health, Risk & Society|volume=16|issue=4|pages=339–354|doi=10.1080/13698575.2014.923092|s2cid=144936752|issn=1369-8575))</ref> Likewise, a study of the rhetoric used in public policy debates about genetically modified food in [[Ghana]] showed that conspiracy theories were a feature of a [[civil society]] opposition to GMOs:<blockquote>Government and scientists were denying the claim that GMO was discriminatory and posed significant human health risk, as well as the call to action to do something about GMOs. Civil society adapted the counter rhetoric of ''insincerity'', claiming that scientists had some kind of “hidden agenda” behind their claim, such as eagerness to just earn money from their patents on GMOs. It is imperative that communication on GMOs includes the underlying assumptions, the uncertainties and the probabilities associated with both best and worst case scenarios. This is a necessary condition to minimise misinformation on GMOs but may be insufficient to completely erase conspiracy theories from the minds of the public especially when scientists and government are perceived to be biased towards multinational corporations that are ostensibly preoccupied with making profits.<ref>((Cite journal|last1=Kangmennaang|first1=Joseph|last2=Osei|first2=Lydia|last3=Armah|first3=Frederick A.|last4=Luginaah|first4=Isaac|date=2016-10-01|title=Genetically modified organisms and the age of (Un) reason? A critical examination of the rhetoric in the GMO public policy debates in Ghana|journal=Futures|series=SI: Futures for Food|volume=83|issue=Supplement C|pages=37–49|doi=10.1016/j.futures.2016.03.002))</ref></blockquote>Social critic Margit Stange contextualized certain arguments adopted by GMO conspiracy theorists as being part of the larger controversy surrounding the subject:

<blockquote>The corporate push for genetically modified food arouses great suspicion. Critics charge that GM food ("[[Frankenfood]]") is profitable to industry not only because it can be patented but because crop uniformity will eventually drive up pesticide demand. The charge that big food interests take advantage of poverty to open new markets for GM food is restated by conspiracy theorists, who describe a deliberate macroeconomic creation of food shortages in impoverished nations in order to open the door to GM food. The food industry's opposition to GM food labeling and precautionary measures fuels such suspicions.<ref>((cite book|author=Margit Stange|editor=Peter Knight|title=Conspiracy Theories in American History: An Encyclopedia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qMIDrggs8TsC|year=2003|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-57607-812-9|page=310))</ref></blockquote>

This view was echoed by bioethicist [[Michael Reiss]] and moral philosopher Roger Straughan who explain in their book ''Improving Nature?: The Science and Ethics of Genetic Engineering'' that fears about the consolidation of power by a few agrochemical companies over farmers is a main argument against new genetic engineering technology in agriculture: "At its extreme, this fear belongs to the conspiracy-theory genre and, to caricature somewhat, envisages powerless farmers forced to pay ever increasing amounts to anonymous international companies who profit from the cost of the crop seed and from the cost of the herbicides used to spray them."<ref>((Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SqEObv4UBqkC|title=Improving Nature?: The Science and Ethics of Genetic Engineering|last1=Reiss|first1=Michael J.|last2=Straughan|first2=Roger|date=2001-05-21|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9780521008471|page=143))</ref>

Political science professors [[Joseph Uscinski]] and Joseph M. Parent in their book ''American Conspiracy Theories'' summarized the people that have adopted GMO conspiracy theories thusly:<blockquote>Another prototypical conspiratorial movement involves those opposed to genetically modified organisms (GMO), in essence a protest against the genetic engineering of food. Not everyone who opposes GMOs is a conspiracy theorist: reasonable people can disagree about research and fail to see small groups of people covertly working against the common good. But most visible and vocal members of this movement, however, are conspiracy theorists. They believe that genetically modified foods are a corporate plot, led by the giant multinational Monsanto, to profit off unhealthy food.<ref name="Uscinski2014">((Cite book
| url = https://archive.org/details/americanconspira0000usci
| url-access = registration
| title = American Conspiracy Theories
| last1 = Uscinski
| first1 = Joseph E.
| last2 = Parent
| first2 = Joseph M.
| date = 2014-08-05
| publisher = Oxford University Press
| isbn = 9780199351824
| page = [https://archive.org/details/americanconspira0000usci/page/146 146]
| language = en
))</ref></blockquote>Uscinski, writing for [[Politico]] in the context of the [[2016 United States presidential election]], identified GMO conspiracy theories as one of the "honorable mentions" appended to his list of the "five most dangerous conspiracy theories of 2016".  He specifically singled-out candidates [[Bernie Sanders]] and [[Jill Stein]] as promulgators.<ref>((Cite web|url=https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/08/conspiracy-theories-2016-donald-trump-hillary-clinton-214183|title=The 5 Most Dangerous Conspiracy Theories of 2016|last=Uscinski|first=Joseph|website=POLITICO Magazine|date=August 22, 2016 |access-date=2019-05-20))</ref> Michael Shermer and Pat Linse, writing for [[Skeptic (U.S. magazine)|Skeptic magazine]], specify that in terms of political ideology, "GMO conspiracy theories are embraced primarily by those on the [[Left-wing politics|left]]."<ref>((Cite news|url=https://www.skeptic.com/reading_room/conspiracy-theories-how-to-determine-true-conspiracies-from-false/|title=Conspiracy Theories — How Can You Determine if They are True or False?|date=2014-11-11|website=Skeptic|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201023114350/https://www.skeptic.com/reading_room/conspiracy-theories-how-to-determine-true-conspiracies-from-false/|archive-date=October 23, 2020|access-date=2019-05-20|url-status=bot: unknown|author1=Skeptic ))</ref>

Scholars have identified ways that the [[internet]] has aided proliferation and connection between conspiracy theories including those about GMOs. For example, computer scientists [[Tanushree Mitra]] and Mattia Samory found in a 2018 study that "[to]pics [such as] “[[Big Pharma conspiracy theory|big pharma]],” “[[Anti-vaccine conspiracy theories|vaccines]],” and “GMO,” for example, decry the corruption of health services while promoting the virtues of a “natural” lifestyle."<ref>((Cite journal|last1=Samory|first1=Mattia|last2=Mitra|first2=Tanushree|date=November 2018|title='The Government Spies Using Our Webcams': The Language of Conspiracy Theories in Online Discussions|journal=Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction|volume=2|issue=CSCW|pages=152:1–152:24|doi=10.1145/3274421|s2cid=52213735|issn=2573-0142))</ref> [[MIT Technology Review]] reported in February 2018 that Russian-backed disinformation campaigns were sowing public confusion about GMOs by promoting conspiracy theories.<ref>((Cite news|url=https://www.technologyreview.com/f/610389/russia-wants-you-to-hate-gmos/|title=Russia wants you to hate GMOs|website=MIT Technology Review|language=en-US|access-date=2019-05-20))</ref>

==Monsanto==

A major aspect of many conspiracy theories is the fear that large [[agribusiness]]es, especially [[Monsanto]] are working to undermine the health and safety of the general public by introducing and promoting GMOs in the food supply. One claim is that Monsanto is deliberately hiding scientific evidence that GMOs are harmful.<ref name=Raikka /> Some anti-GMO activists claimed that Monsanto infiltrated both the American [[Food and Drug Administration]]  and the [[American Association for the Advancement of Science]] which is why the two organizations have supported the scientific evidence for the safety of the genetically engineered food available for human consumption.<ref>((Cite web|title = The Misleading War on GMOs: The Food Is Safe. The Rhetoric Is Dangerous.|url = http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2015/07/are_gmos_safe_yes_the_case_against_them_is_full_of_fraud_lies_and_errors.html|website = Slate Magazine|access-date =February 2, 2016|date =July 15, 2015))</ref> [[Jeffrey M. Smith]] is identified in the book ''American Conspiracy Theories'' as arguing that Monsanto has [[regulatory capture|capture]]d the FDA and many other countries.<ref name="Uscinski2014" /> In the compendium ''Agricultural and Food Controversies'', the authors who are social scientists and food scientists trace the conspiracy theory relating in particular to Monsanto back to events in the early 1990s:
<blockquote>There are some well-qualified dissenting scientists and a motivated group of food activists behind them, pushing back against GM food. They believe a GM crop is not substantially equivalent to traditional crops. Moreover, they believe that the FDA follows the substantial equivalence rule not because of the science, but because the FDA was corrupted by corporate influence. This is not a belief that the authors' share, but there are smart people of high character who do believe this conspiracy theory, and their side of the story deserves to be heard.<p>

In ''The World According to Monsanto'', author Marie-Monique Robin describes how the substantial equivalence began with a 1992 policy statement by the FDA under the leadership of a former Monsanto lawyer, who, after working in the FDA, returned to Monsanto as vice president. Her story suggests that GM regulations were the product of a revolving-door system where regulators are former and/or future employees of the company being regulated (note that some argue Monsanto wanted excess regulations to keep out competitors, but that is not Robin's story). It is not hard to imagine a company rewarding lenient regulators with a nice job, and food activists have websites listing powerful government officials and their relation to Monsanto and other corporations. If this sounds like a conspiracy theory (a term not meant as a euphemism), it is.<ref>((cite book|author1=F. Bailey Norwood|author2=Michelle S. Calvo-Lorenzo|author3=Sarah Lancaster|author4=Pascal A. Oltenacu|title=Agricultural and Food Controversies|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jCStBAAAQBAJ|date=17 November 2014|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-936842-6|pages=65–66))</ref></blockquote>

Belief that Monsanto is particularly problematic has inspired such actions as the [[March Against Monsanto]] and the singling out of Monsanto over other agribusinesses such as [[DuPont]], [[Syngenta]], [[Dow Chemical Company|Dow]], [[BASF]] and [[Bayer]], and has been identified as a salient feature of anti-GMO activism.<ref>((cite web | url=http://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/061913/why-monsanto-evil-dupont-isnt.asp | title=Why Is Monsanto Evil, But DuPont Isn't?|publisher=[[Investopedia]] |author=Stephen D. Simpson, CFA|access-date=31 January 2016))</ref>

An example of Monsanto-based conspiracy theorizing were the claims by some anti-GMO activists that Monsanto banned GMOs from their cafeterias while promoting them for sale and consumption by the public.<ref name="Blackmore">((cite web|author = Willy Blackmore|url = http://www.takepart.com/article/2013/08/30/why-we-shouldnt-waste-time-gmo-conspiracies|title = Why We Shouldn't Waste Time on GMO Conspiracies|publisher = [[TakePart]]|access-date = 31 January 2016|archive-date = September 6, 2013|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130906064633/http://www.takepart.com/article/2013/08/30/why-we-shouldnt-waste-time-gmo-conspiracies|url-status = dead))</ref> Anti-GMO/[[Chemtrail conspiracy theory|chemtrail]] blogger Barbara H. Peterson, a retired correctional officer and rancher, complained that Monsanto "has painted those of us attempting to shed light on the dangers of genetically modified/engineered organisms (GMOs) as 'conspiracy theorists'...." She went on to attack Monsanto's suggestion that sabotage could be a possible explanation for the discovery of a few plants of experimental [[genetically modified wheat]] found inexplicably growing on a farm in Oregon as being a conspiracy theory itself.<ref>((Cite web|url=http://farmwars.info/?p=10908|title=Monsanto's GMO Wheat Conspiracy Theory|website=Farm Wars|access-date=2016-03-04|date=2013-06-24))</ref>

===GMO cannabis hoax===
A 2015 [[internet hoax]] purporting to show that [[Monsanto]] was creating [[genetically modified organism|genetically modified]] [[cannabis]] to supply to the [[cannabis industry]].<ref name="Snopescannabis">((Cite news|url=https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/monsantijuana/|title=Fact Check: Monsanto Creates First Genetically Modified Strain of Marijuana|last=Mikkelson|first=David|date=April 15, 2015|work=[[Snopes.com]]|access-date=November 20, 2018))</ref><ref>((Cite news|url=https://hightimes.com/health/science/scientists-working-to-prevent-monsanto-from-monopolizing-on-cannabis-strains-but-can-they-stop-it/|title=Scientists Working to Prevent Monsanto from Monopolizing on Cannabis Strains, But Can They Stop It?|last=Adams|first=Mike|date=August 25, 2015|work=High Times|access-date=November 20, 2018))</ref> The hoax was created by satirical [[fake news website]] [[World News Daily Report]] on April 9, 2015.<ref name="Snopescannabis" /> Monsanto created a "standing denial" of the hoax on their "Myths About Monsanto" webpage,<ref>((Cite news|url=https://news.vice.com/en_us/article/ywjedw/a-patent-for-cannabis-plants-is-already-a-reality-and-more-are-expected-to-follow|title=What a Looming Patent War Could Mean for the Future of the Marijuana Industry|last=Walters|first=Greg|date=April 20, 2016|work=[[Vice News]]|access-date=November 20, 2018))</ref> and tweeted a disclaimer prior to the [[420 (cannabis culture)#International observance of April 20|420 holiday]] in 2016,<ref>((Cite news|url=https://www.cannalawblog.com/marijuana-patents-fear-loathing-and-beating-monsanto/|title=Marijuana Patents: Fear, Loathing, and Beating Monsanto|last=Bricken|first=Hilary|date=April 29, 2016|work=Canna Law Blog|access-date=November 19, 2018|publisher=Harris Bricken))</ref> and on April 20, 2017, again tweeted "Happy 4-20. Time for our yearly reminder: Monsanto has not and is not working on GMO marijuana."<ref>((cite twitter|title=Happy 4-20. Time for our yearly reminder: Monsanto has not and is not working on GMO marijuana.|user=MonsantoCo|date=April 20, 2017|number=855003190223306754))</ref>

== Zika virus ==
In January 2016, concerns over a [[Zika virus outbreak in the Americas (2015–present)|Zika virus outbreak]] were accompanied by claims first published on [[Reddit]] that the virus was being spread by a genetically modified mosquito.<ref name="businessinsider">((cite web|url = http://www.businessinsider.com/zika-virus-conspiracy-theory-2016-1|author = Lydia Ramsey|publisher = [[Business Insider]]|access-date = 31 January 2016|title = A wacky conspiracy is circulating about Zika and GMOs — and it needs to stop))</ref> The fears were based in part because of a new mosquito abatement initiative led by [[Oxitec]]—male mosquitoes (which do not bite) are genetically modified to be sterile, and released to mate with females, resulting in no offspring, thereby reducing the ''Aedes aegypti'' mosquito population that spreads tropical diseases such as Zika.<ref name="businessinsider"/> The claims were identified as "unproven" by the debunking website [[snopes.com]].<ref>((Cite web|title = MOSTLY FALSE: Zika Virus Caused by GMO Mosquitos|url = http://www.snopes.com/zika-virus-gmo-mosquitoes/|website = snopes|access-date = 2016-01-31|first = Kim|last = LaCapria| date=January 29, 2016 ))</ref>

==Chipotle food safety==
In the context of ongoing concerns over [[Chipotle Mexican Grill#Food safety|food safety at Chipotle Mexican Grill]] certain commentators have implied that the outbreaks of food-borne illnesses were sabotage carried out by the biotech industry in retaliation over Chipotle's removal of GMOs from their menu.<ref>((Cite web|url=http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2016/01/publishers-platform-chipotle-must-denounce-mike-adams-conspiracy-theory/#.VtmQWJMrJE4|title=Publisher's Platform: Chipotle Must Denounce Mike Adam's Conspiracy Theory|website=Food Safety News|access-date=2016-03-04|date=January 2016))</ref><ref>((Cite web|url=http://www.businessinsider.com/chipotle-e-coli-conspiracy-theory-2015-12|title=Chipotle fans have a wacky conspiracy theory about the chain's E. coli outbreaks|website=Business Insider|access-date=2016-03-04))</ref> The claims were identified as "unproven" by the debunking website ''[[Snopes]]''.<ref>((Cite web|url=http://www.snopes.com/chipotle-gmo-bioterror/|title=Chipotle Sabotaged by GMO Activists?|last=LaCapria|first=Kim|website=snopes|date=December 30, 2015 |access-date=2016-03-04))</ref>

==Ethical criticism==
In ''Scholars & Rogues'', an online progressive political journal, David Lambert, a development program officer for the [[United Nations]], compared the conspiracy theories  supported by some  in the anti-GMO movement to those supported in the [[anti-vaccination movement]], 
<blockquote>Like preventable childhood diseases, malnutrition is another great moral failing of our time. GMOs such as [[golden rice]]—rice modified to contain high levels of beta carotene in order to compensate for the vitamin A deficiency which kills hundreds of thousands of children around the world and blinds many more every year—and drought resistant crops, which will become increasingly vital in the global south due to [[climate change]], have vast potential to help those who don't shop at [[Whole Foods Market|Whole Foods]]. But real progress has been stymied by the paranoid and misinformed, who clamor that GMOs, which are biologically no different than "natural" foods, are somehow poisonous. Behind it all is of course an evil corporation: Monsanto.<ref>((Cite web|title = Conspiracies against progress: why the rise of the modern conspiracy theory should concern us all|url = http://scholarsandrogues.com/2014/08/26/conspiracies-against-progress-why-the-rise-of-the-modern-conspiracy-theory-should-concern-us-all/|website = Progressive Culture ((!)) Scholars & Rogues|access-date = 2016-02-02|date = 2014-08-27))</ref>
</blockquote>
Offering a similar critique Kavin Senapathy, a freelance writer and speaker who offers editorials from the perspective of the [[skeptical movement]], wrote for [[Forbes]] that <blockquote>Both [the anti-vaccine and anti-GMO movements] cite [[Cherry picking|cherry-picked]], discredited, and retracted scientific studies, such as the 1998 [[Andrew Wakefield]] study linking the MMR vaccine with autism, and the 2012 [[Séralini affair|Gilles-Éric Séralini rat study]] linking genetically engineered crops with cancer, while ignoring the vast bodies of evidence against them....

And both lead to injustice....It may seem that surely the anti-GMO movement is benign albeit wrong, innocuous compared to anti-vaccine atrocities. It may appear that it all boils down to some harmless non-GMO labels on grocery items. But it turns out there is a human cost.

The same movement that drives marketers to source non-GMO ingredients also influences regulatory bodies around the world. Crops are kept from regions in Africa where drought is a major contributor to the complex causes of malnutrition, with researchers in Tanzania forced to burn test fields of drought-tolerant corn rather than feed starving local children. Disease-resistant crops languish due to ideological regulations, with bananas resistant to [[xanthomonas]] wilt—which is threatening food security in Uganda and eastern Africa where it’s a staple crop—kept from farmers and people who need them....<ref>((Cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/kavinsenapathy/2017/05/18/the-anti-vaccine-and-anti-gmo-movements-are-inextricably-linked-and-cause-preventable-suffering/|title=The Anti-Vaccine And Anti-GMO Movements Are Inextricably Linked And Cause Preventable Suffering|last=Senapathy|first=Kavin|date=2017-05-18|website=Forbes|location=US|language=en|url-status=live|archive-url=https://archive.today/20200322225509/https://www.forbes.com/sites/kavinsenapathy/2017/05/18/the-anti-vaccine-and-anti-gmo-movements-are-inextricably-linked-and-cause-preventable-suffering/%23293519c336a2|archive-date=2020-03-22))</ref></blockquote>Philosopher Giovanni Tagliabue argued that promoters of GMO conspiracy theories were being taken advantage of by anti-environmental corporate interests:<blockquote>This ideological and political [[Anti-corporate activism|anti-corporate]] worldview, although sometimes almost paranoid, is legitimate. Yet, while I do not argue whether this attitude is good or bad, right or wrong, I maintain that the avowed anti-industrial struggle in the field of green biotechnologies not only fails to hit the supposed target, but benefits and supports a part of the industry whose products have a stronger environmental impact than [[Recombinant DNA|rDNA cultivars]]; in addition, and more importantly, opposing GMOs generates heavy collateral damage to public science, agricultural progress and the poor.<ref>((Cite journal|last=Tagliabue|first=G|date=2018-09-18|title=OPINION PIECE Counterproductive consequences of 'anti-GMO' activism|journal=Ethics in Science and Environmental Politics|volume=18|pages=61–74|doi=10.3354/esep00185|issn=1863-5415|doi-access=free))</ref></blockquote>

==See also==
*[[Big Pharma conspiracy theory]]
*[[Genetically modified food controversies]]

==References==
((reflist|30em))

[[Category:Anti-GMO movement]]
[[Category:Genetically modified organisms]]
[[Category:Monsanto]]
[[Category:Health-related conspiracy theories]]
[[Category:Science and technology-related conspiracy theories]]

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