“…While I think we [the pro-science advocates] have made tremendous progress getting the word out and changing the conversation on GMOs, now is not the time to lessen our efforts. There is still a billion dollar organic industry with its sights on GMOs. Public opinion is slow to change, and there is already some momentum in the political effort to further demonize GMOs through mandatory labeling.
We have pushed the anti-GMO position a bit to the fringe, and exposed their soft underbelly, but now we have to keep up the pressure all the more. We have history to inform us on this. We have managed to push things like homeopathy to the fringe (although we still have a lot of work there as well), and yet homeopathy survives as a multi-billion dollar industry enjoying lax regulations. We have knocked down attempts by the anti-vaccine movement to rise above the conspiracy fringe, but this is an endless game of whack-a-mole.
So, while I appreciate the words of encouragement, and I agree we have made progress, now, in my opinion, the real work begins. The anti-GMO movement will likely just retool itself with more subtle (but just as wrong) arguments and positions. Their efforts may move more underground, not shouting from the rooftops, but lobbying state legislatures below the radar.
If we have turned a corner (and perhaps we have) it is just to round 2. The fight must continue.
NeuroLogica Blog ” GMOs – Have We Turned a Corner?
Scientific skeptics spend a great deal of their time and effort fighting against pseudoscience, ideology, and entrenched beliefs. This can be a frustrating effort, given that such beliefs tend not to be based in scientific thinking in the first place.