The media came to the United States with Cui Yongyuan’s investigation of genetically modified conclusions

[Cui Yongyuan's investigation of genetically modified left CCTV] Cui Yongyuan once again went to the United States to investigate genetic modification and took more than 40 hours of video. He said that the arguments about genetic modification with Fang on Weibo are the reasons for accelerating its departure from CCTV. What is the attitude of ordinary Americans to genetic modification? Do Americans eat genetically modified foods? "Financial World" magazine and Cui teacher traveled to the United States during the same period, but got a completely different conclusion with him.

Following Cui Yongyuan's footsteps, we came to the other side of the ocean and reached a completely different conclusion.

Southern Metropolis Daily reporter Liu Xiaoxuan from the United States Iowa editor Li Tie Wang Xiaoling photography Yuan Yue

What is the attitude of ordinary Americans to genetically modified foods?

The shelves of the Wal-Mart store on West Madison Street in Chicago are filled with snacks made from corn, which is the area where customers spend the most time. "I always want to find my favorite flavor," said 26-year-old Diane. She works in an educational institution in Chicago. "Sometimes I also look at calorie content or there is no trans fat."

In the Target supermarket in Des Moines, Iowa, a 7-year-old boy pushes his stroller next to his mother Grace holding a two-year-old kid who is standing in front of the Halloween candy counter. "I hope kids. Eat less sweets, but there is no way."

If not asked, they did not consider the issue of genetic modification - "I have heard some exaggeration of genetically modified, but because I am educated myself, I think those arguments are not credible," Diane said as she picked up The corn flakes in his cart looked.

In China, the debate over genetic modification is intensifying. Cui Yongyuan, a well-known Chinese host, is also involved in becoming a "reverse gene" celebrity.

On October 21, Cui Yongyuan stated on Tencent Weibo that he had already arrived in the United States and began to investigate genetic modification. Subsequent microblogs recorded his trip to the United States: Random interviews were conducted at a local Wal-Mart in California, the famous Whole Foods Market, and two local supermarkets in Los Angeles. "The two supermarkets made it clear that the sweetcorn they sell is not genetically modified and has never been sold. As for oil, the salesperson even took out the mobile phone and queried Wikipedia on the spot. Then he said on Weibo, published on October 25." Say, uh, we will not sell such oil."

In the world's largest GM crop planting and product-producing country, the United States trip did not change Cui Yongyuan's "reverse" position.

The “Financial World” magazine also came to the United States during the same period and conducted a larger-scale interview. In addition to conducting interviews with US agricultural and biological experts, we also walked into American farms, supermarkets, families, genetically modified companies, and universities. Investigated and experienced the "transgenic culture" in the United States.

We have come to different conclusions with Cui Yongyuan.

True, the United States does have a firm "reverse" person. On the cold autumn morning of October 18th in Des Moines, Iowa, the streets of Des Moines on weekdays became crowded with the World Food Prize and the Borlaug Forum. They gathered around the world to attend conferences and forums. Scientist. This is the "Father of the Green Revolution," and the award created by Dr. Norman Borlaug in 1986 for the Nobel Peace Prize. It is intended to recognize individuals who have made outstanding contributions to various aspects of food quality, quantity, and food availability. It is considered as an agricultural field. The highest honor. This year is the first time that the World Food Prize has been established for 27 years and it involves genetically modified technology.

Not far from the venue, a group of more than 20 reverse genetic groups is protesting with a sign. "GM" and "Monsanto" have not unexpectedly become the key words of protest. They wore demonic masks and demanded that "GM transgenics get out of the agricultural circle."

The organizer of the protest crowd is a professional activist or performance artist – something similar to the “reverse” activity in China. On the afternoon of November 30th, 148 Beijing avant-garde artists and art workers organized a reversal of gene activity in the 798 Art District. They used music, big-characters, and even comic dialogue to denounce the dangers of genetic modification.

The difference is that in China, genetic transformation has been given more dark black color, and is associated with national justice. The "great conspiracy of Western imperialism", the "crisis of extermination and destruction of species," and the "third opium war" sound very inflammatory. Monsanto, an agricultural biotechnology company that occupies 70% of the world's genetically modified crop seed market, has become the target of anti-genomics, and is even tied with the “Japanese 731 force”.

When it comes to agriculture and food, the problem becomes complicated. The debate over genetic modification has not been confined to the scientific community. It is the same in the United States. As Daniel Charles wrote in The Harvest God: Compared to most human activities, the demand for old ethics such as modesty and patience is even greater in agriculture. You need to be modest when looking at the potential of new technologies. It takes more patience to expect public acceptance.

However, the debate has not affected the development and application of technology itself in the United States, nor has it caused the fear of the American public.

Compared with China, the U.S. official support attitude is more clear. The 2013 World Food Awards held an award ceremony at the State Government Building in Iowa. One of the winners was Robert Fraley, Chief Technology Officer of Monsanto. Kenneth Quinn, chairman of the World Grain Awards Foundation, said at the awards ceremony: “Their inventions led scientists to transfer genetic traits to plants, resulting in better drought, heat, insect and disease resistance. If we succumb to this The controversy over the harmful effects of genetically modified foods on humans and the environment is to belittle the rewards we award."

After joining Monsanto in 1981, Robert Fraley's research focused on practical agricultural technology and introduced a resistance gene into Rhizobium for the first time, making rapid screening of transgenes possible. Under his leadership, Monsanto introduced two technologies, insect-resistant and herbicide-tolerant, to crops to complete the commercialization of genetic modification. As a result, Monsanto was transformed from a chemical company into the world's largest seed company, and the controversy over GM and Monsanto began.

“As a botanist, my colleagues and I have never thought that GM technology will be subjected to such a big resistance. When I learned of the award, my mood was very complicated. I knew that the Foundation awarded us the prize. It is under great pressure, but hopefully this award will allow people to understand that GM food is safe.” Before the award, we had breakfast with Robert Fraley and he said when asked about winning.

It's hard to relate Robert Fraley's image to demons. He looks like any affable American old man. He has a red complexion and a tall figure. If he's not wearing a dark suit, it looks just like an ordinary American farmer. .

When Robert Fraley said this, he was faced with more than 30 reporters including the weekly reporter from the "Financial World" magazine. They came from China, South Korea, Germany, Mexico, Brazil, Kenya and other countries.

After more than ten days of in-depth interviews in the United States, we found that the US public’s attitude toward genetic modification is completely different from that of these countries, and this is not caused by differences in public awareness.

Does Uncle Sam eat genetically modified foods?

Iowa is located in the Great Plains area of ​​the Midwestern United States, only 40 minutes from Chicago on an airplane journey. Looking down from the airplane window, all are golden, finely divided fields. This area of ​​145,000 square kilometers has arable land of 86%. Here you can find 120,000 farms. Iowa’s corn production ranks first in the United States, and soybeans and oats rank second.

The 62-year-old Roger Zylstra and the 33-year-old Will Cannon have two of these farms. They are typical of Iowa farmers. The former is an experienced farmer and has planted genetically modified corn and soybeans for more than a decade. He purchased seeds of different technologies from many companies such as Monsanto, DuPont Pioneer, etc. to plant rotations to prevent pests and weeds from developing resistance. The latter is a new generation of peasants with university degrees and graduated from the Department of Agriculture at Iowa State University. He is keen to use various new technologies, such as remote sensing technology, to improve the farmland. The mobile phone contains various apps related to his own farmland.

What they have in common is that all of their farms are genetically modified.

"For peasants, GM technology is undoubtedly a good thing. They have better resistance to drought and insects, farmers can also get higher yields, while reducing the amount of pesticides," Iowa Corn Association Chairman Williamson said, "Iowa's GM maize cultivation ratio is higher than the US average, and more than 90% of the corn is genetically modified."

After all the food is harvested, it will be concentrated in a large granary about 30 stories high. Next to the barn there is a train track, and corn and soybeans are shipped to the United States or other parts of the world.

When asked about where the food was sent, whether it was sold as rumors, sold only to poor countries, used for industrial purposes, or gave animals only, Williamson had some helplessness: “We did not make any distinctions, nor did we trace them. This is a normal thing, where we have to go wherever there is a demand, including of course the local market.They will later be processed into anything you eat, corn syrup, cereal, popcorn. It's not clear, but according to probability, the vast majority of my own food comes from this warehouse or a nearby warehouse.”

The data supports his remarks. According to the data released by the US Department of Agriculture website, as of 2012, 94% of soybeans and 88% of corn produced in the United States were GM crops.

In fact, no U.S. retailer can refuse to contain genetically modified foods. Taking Whole Foods Market, a famous supermarket selling organic foods as an example, in the data provided by its North American suppliers, we can see about 93% of soybeans, 88% of corn, 94% of cotton, and more than 90% of vegetables in 2012. Seeds and sugar beets are genetically modified products.

“Apart from products that are specifically labeled as non-GMO, we cannot tell you whether or not other GMOs are in the end, because according to FDA regulations, there is no need to label genetically modified products.” Whole Foods Market responded to “Financial World” magazine.

The so-called FDA regulation means that raw materials of genetically modified foods that have passed the safety inspection do not have to be marked on the outside of the finished product. At the same time, the FDA has made strict restrictions on the labeling of "non-genetically modified" to avoid creating negative impressions from consumers. Therefore, even in the United States shopping malls, it is difficult for the staff to distinguish between genetically modified products and non-genetically modified products.

U.S. GM foods are mainly concentrated in sugar, oil and corn. The US Department of Agriculture’s data shows that in the past year, the average American used about 130 pounds of sugar (Yes, no mistake. This is an alarming number, but Americans love dessert so much.) Of these, half came from corn syrup and high fructose syrup, and the other half came from refined white sugar. More than 50% of refined sugar is made from sugar beets, and 95% of sugar beets in the United States are genetically modified. From this calculation, an American eats about 40 kilograms of sugar from genetically modified crops a year.

In addition, on average, each American eats about 20 kilograms of soybean oil, about 5 kilograms of rapeseed oil, and about 5 kilograms of corn oil each year, all of which come from genetically modified crops.

Let's take a look at corn as a staple food. In addition to corn syrup and high-fructose syrup, corn is also used in breakfast cereals, baked goods, and snacks. In 2012, Monsanto introduced GM sweet corn in the US market, and Wal-Mart was the first supermarket to sell this sweet corn. According to Monsanto's statistics, the market share of sweet corn has reached 40% - of course, Monsanto is not the only company to provide sweet corn transgenic seeds.

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