Rethinking Communication in Agricultural Biotechnology

Kevin M. FoltaProfessor and Chairman

Horticultural Sciences Department

kfolta.blogspot.com@kevinfolta

kevinfolta@gmail.com

"There is a path to truth and sincerity that you must guard and defend“

-- Teruyuki Okazaki

•13 international scholars•Undergraduate researchers

•Examine how light affects plant traits, and use as a non-chemical treatment for enhanced shelf life

•Use of natural fruit volatiles to slow spoilage

•Connecting genes to important traits in small fruits.

•Marker-assisted breeding

My Research Program

Everyone Loves New Technology

Rekindled Awareness

FarmersDeveloping World

The NeedyFood Safety

Environment

Consumers

But What About Agricultural Biotechnology?

Generally:

People don’t have any idea what it is.

People don’t know how biology works.

Few understand farming and supply chains.

The just know that they don’t like biotech crops.

A Small Number of Non-Scientists Influence Public Opinion

Oz Smith Shiva Adams Mercola Food Babe

Why? There is money to be made in manufacturing risk.There is a market of the credulous poised to ampilify the message

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Relative understanding

Activists

Farmers, scientists,

Etc.

MOST PEOPLE!!!!

Based on findings from UF PIE Center

What Does the General Public Really Think?

“92% of Americans demand to know what is in their food”

1996 Today Wide Application

Smart RegulationPublic Participation

Traits in Minor CropsConsumer Traits

Acceptance Gap X years

Minor effectors:Continued safe implementationConsumer-centric traits

Major effectors:Decreasing credibility of vocal minorityRecognition as complementary / synergistic

with organic/sustainable

#1 EffectorCommunication via high-credibility channels

Less impact of “leaders”

Dire predictions never materialize

How to Fix It? Shifting the Middle

Communicating the Message (General)

•Communication is listening and responding•Understand your audience. They are concerned about food•You must prove that you understand their concern•Always discuss strengths and limitations•If you don’t know, offer to find out•This is about sharing science, not beating people to death with it.•It is about being a teacher. Recognizing that you know more about a topic than others, and working hard to clearly explain the issue.

•This is not as much a scientific exercise as a communications exercise.

Communicating the Message (Specific)

•Master a central core of key concepts

•Understand mechanisms of current traits

•Be able to address basic mythology

•Emphasize lost opportunities

•Take on active engagement and participation

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Central Core Concepts

Humans have always participated in plant genetic improvement.

Transgenic crop technology (familiar “GMO”) is a precise extension of conventional plant breeding.

“The techniques used pose no more risk (actually less risk) than conventional breeding.” (NAS, AAAS, AMA, EFSA many others)

In 17 years there has not been one case of illness or death related to these products

In the USA there are several traits used in only nine commercial crops

Dispelling the Naturalistic Fallacy– This is Nothing New!

Remind audiences that genetic improvement of food is a continuum.

Almost none of the plants we regularly consume originated in North America. Almost all were brought here by humans.

None of the food you eat is like its “natural” form

GM technology is simply the most precise version of an age-old practice of breeding and selection.

Humans have always manipulated crop genetics

GE vs. Traditional Breeding

Wide crosses exchange hundreds or thousands of genes and gene variants; GE moves only one/few.

Traditional breeding frequently uses plants that could never normally cross, GE uses genes from self or any other organism

GE can monitor the effect of a specific change; breeding seeks to judge the effect on plant productivity and does not address possible effects on individual genes.

Only nine crops, basically three traits.

Memorize which ones are commercialized. Ask others which ones are commercialized.See how the answers match.

Or don’t.

GM Crops Available Now

9

potato

Keep it Simple– What are the Three Main Traits?

Virus Resistance

Insect Resistance

Herbicide Resistance

(how the traits work lecture online – (google “ UF biotechnology literacy day”)

Strengths Limitations

Virus resistance Works great, no foreign material

Has cut insecticide use by 10-70%

Saves time, labor, fuel. Allows conservation tillage

Can spread to nonGM populations

Pockets of developing resistance

Resistant weeds are a problem in areas.

Insect resistance

Herbicide resistance

Distill Into Digestible Units - Keep it simple. Discuss strengths and limitations (don’t create false equivalence)

COMMUNICATION BARRIERS

“FACTS DON’T MATTER.”- Tamar Haspel

People reject the validity of scientific conclusions if they contradict their deeply held views

“Backfire Effect”- when confronted with evidence that is contrary to their views, people tend to believe that the evidence is distorted. They also “dig in the heels” with their beliefs

Cultural Cognition – belief in trangenic harm as part of a package of beliefs

False Equivalence, “no consensus among scientists”

To win hearts and minds we have to come at it from a different angle.

Humanization- I’m a parent… I care about my community… My family’s health is my priority…

Your Priorities- Profits for farmers… low environmental impacts… Food for those that need it… affordable, safe food in the industrialized world…

You can lead smart people to a conclusion- Ask questions, based on impacts for people and the environment.

Your Role is to be a More Trusted Source

1. Share your story. People respond best to a narrative.

2. Your job- “I work for you”, “I would not be able to sleep at night knowing I did something dangerous”

3. Your funding- “all public record”, “companies sell to farmers, if they are not happy, we don’t profit”, “if anyone were to be harmed we’d be out of business”

4. Use your real name and provide an email address in online discussions.

Transparency builds trust, trust helps communication.

Avoid these Mistakes

Avoid “feed the world” rhetoric

Always discuss strengths and limitations

Don’t ever claim it is a single solution.

Don’t discount all facets of “organic” ag

Don’t criticize other forms of genetic improvement…

Never get backed into the “science no”“Can you guarantee that these are absolutely safe?”

Rely on Graphics Over Words

Instead of “glyphosate is relatively harmless- don’t worry about it.”

How Do We Shift Public Sentiment?

How do we participate effectively? Winning the Emotional Capital

Consequences of Non-Actionand Lost Opportunities

Opposition to this technology has significant costs.

The needyThe environmentFarmersConsumers

Technology Exists NOW

Research has been published demonstrating that transgenic techniques can:

Help farmers save labor, fuel, water, fertilizer, other inputs.

Biofortify foods with vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients

Grow plants in marginal areas

Grow plants with fewer inputs Efficient use of fertilizersInsect resistanceDisease resistance

Crop Biotechnology 2.0

What opportunities are lost because of the rigorous, time consuming and expensive deregulation process?

Golden Rice

X

Farmers

Consumers

Environment

Needy

Opposition to golden rice cost $2 billion to farmers in developing countries and 1.4 million human years – Wesseler et al., 2014

Cassava

Virus Resistant Cassava (VIRCA)

Biocassava Plus (BC Plus)

250 million depend on cassava

50 million tons lost to virus.

X

X Farmers

Consumers

Environment

Needy

Survives moderate drought, especially at key times like flowering It is based on overexpression of a maize stress gene

Non transgenic transgenic

X

X Farmers

Consumers

Environment

Needy

Allergy-Free Peanuts

Peanut – RNAi suppression Ara h2

X

Farmers

Consumers

Environment

Needy

BS2 TomatoA pepper gene in tomato eases black spot and wilt.

X

X Farmers

Consumers

Environment

Needy

High Anthocyanin TomatoA transcription factor excites anthocyanin production in fruits

X

X Farmers

Consumers

Environment

Needy

X

Longer shelf life too.

Low Acrylamide, non Browning Potatoes

X

X

Farmers

Consumers

Environment

Needy

Non Browning ApplesSilencing a gene that leads to discoloration

X

X

Farmers

Consumers

Environment

Needy

Small Business!X

Grapes resistant to Pierce’s Disease

X

X

Farmers

Consumers

Environment

Needy

X

One acre of omega-3 producing soybeans yields as much oil as 10,000 fish!

Stopping Citrus Greening

Spinach defensin

NPR1

Lytic peptides

Many show promise

Earliest deregulation is 2019

Edible Cotton Seeds!

Chestnut blight has destroyed the American Chestnut.

A single gene confers resistance to the disease.

Not food… so deregulation is an interesting question.

What Happens if We Fail to Stand Up for Science?

Expensive and Unnecessary Changes in

Public Policy

Limited Choices of Improved Varieties for

Farmers

Fewer Choices for Consumers

Slower Deployment of

Technology that Could Help

the Needy

What Happens if We Fail to Stand Up for Science?

Slow Deployment of New Plant Varieties that Limit

Inputs Affecting the Environment

Consumers Live in Fear, are Exploited by Charlatans

Endless litigation

Negative Perception of Food and the Farmers that

Grow It.

Action StepAction StepStart a blog. Write weekly

Get a Twitter account. Post daily

Participate in online comments and forums, particularly in local papers.

Talk to one person a week that does not understand biotechnology

Contact your representatives and make your voice heard.

Know how to find the educators and reach out to them.

I will help you get started.

In Conclusion

Our mission is to develop genetics and production methods to generate more food on the same space with fewer inputs.

Learn the basics, or at least learn where to find the basics

When communicating these topics, remember, we are not always talking to people that understand science and agriculture. Teach with compassion.

Facts don’t matter. You need to be a trusted conduit first, before information can be persuasive.

"There is a path to truth and sincerity that you must guard and defend“

-- Teruyuki Okazaki

Where do I get good information?

Warm welcome Cold facts

kfolta@ufl.edu

GMOanswers.com

Biofortified.org geneticliteracyproject.com

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