The Iowa Stater
November 2000
Right to know
To the editor:I don't think I have ever read an item on GMO seeds/plants in the medium of a land-grant school that met the central issue head on with regard to public concerns: The public's absolute and undiluted right to know what they are eating. Is safety a factor? Of course. Liability? You better believe it.
Your article (May 2000, The Iowa Stater) is barely a soft shoe dance around the subject; not one word about a major concern - the right to know. And very little other substance - just creation of an "Iowa State Agricultural Traits and Technology Task Force." We often see the appointment of "task forces" as an excuse for doing nothing at all.
I have underlined a particularly troubling quotation from the article: "It's important that we don't as scientists try to answer ethical questions." Am I missing something here? Where else should one begin to raise ethical questions? All too often, such questions are posed to corporate interests. Incidentally, does Iowa State accept grants or sponsorships from these interests?
- Thomas E. Dustin ('50)
Huntertown, Ind.