Honestly, I had not heard of this guy. But, in classic media tradition, as soon as you change your mind or say “I’m sorry”, you are front page news. Mark was a hard core anti-GMO advocate. Now he is a GMO supporter.
Here’s his speach: http://www.marklynas.org/2013/01/lecture-to-oxford-farming-conference-3-january-2013/
And, doing a quick search, I found two great rebuttals. 😉
http://www.earthisland.org/journal/index.php/elist/eListRead/a_rebuttal_to_mark_lynas_gmo_reversal/
http://www.foodfirst.org/en/GMO+uproar+in+EU
Now, I’m not going to write a long rebuttal myself but I seriously have my doubts about the arguments Mark is making. It seems like he is not taking into account the enormity and complexity of our food system. I am still anti-GMO. And, I do not believe for one second that companies like Monsanto have the Earth as their number one priority. I also don’t believe that organic farming practices are lower yield (talk to Alberta farmers, they will set you straight on that!) Agriculture and the systems surrounding agriculture are very very very very complex. There are no simple solutions, agreed, but I don’t believe that GMOs and the industry that surrounds them are sustainable in the long term.
Anyway, feel free to make your own judgements. For me, I’ll stick with my Alberta and BC food, grown by people who do in fact care for the planet and the people they feed. Their work is a gift for families like mine. Their farms are beautiful, their soil smells amazing, and fish live in their water catchment areas. Science tells us that we need healthy soil. Science tells us that we need bees to pollinate crops. Herbicides and pesticides kill soil and bees. Farmers in India are committing suicide because they can’t make enough money to buy seeds every year. Mono-cultures seem far from “natural”. When we talk about feeding the planet, let’s remember that without this planet, there won’t be anyone to feed.