Anti-GMO speaker sparks aggie student reaction

Friday, April 8, 2016

When the Central Students Association, which represents all University of Guelph undergraduates, invited globalization critic Vandana Shiva to speak on campus, the Student Federation of the Ontario Agriculture College (SFOAC) took umbrage.

"It isn't necessarily that the speaker bashes agriculture and what we do. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions," says president and fourth-year student Lauren Benoit, who worked summers as a crop technician at DuPont Crop Protection's research farm north of London. "The bigger issue is that (Shiva) was given a platform and there was no other side of the story. There was never any attempt for balance."

Shiva opposes the registration of all genetically-engineered food products, including the lauded golden rice. She controversially argues that by consuming a diet comprised of about 80 different foods, children in developing countries can consume enough Vitamin A and don't need a genetically engineered product to avoid blindness. Millions do go blind annually.

Roughly 2,200 "aggies" are a minority among the 20,000 undergraduates at Guelph and all pay fees to the Central Students Association, which invited Shiva to speak.

So SFOAC sponsored a number of information events last winter. At the first one, organic certifier Hugh Martin sat on a panel with Maria Trainer, manager of regulatory affairs for Croplife Canada, Crosby Devitt, executive director of the Canadian Seed Trade Association, and farmer Greg Hannam. BF