about

GMO WTF?

I'm Robert. I am a student who is skeptical of the industry-sponsored pro-GMO claims espoused by my school, Cornell University in upstate Ithaca, NY.

I am deeply concerned that Cornell is supportive of organizations such as Monsanto. I feel such organizations are doing a great deal of harm to our environment, global health, and scientific integrity.

I am also troubled by the trend of Cornell students being led to believe this rhetoric as scientifically sound. This is a dangerous phenomenon at any place of higher learning, particularly a prestigious Ivy League school such as Cornell.

Until this year, Cornell offered a course titled "The GMO Debate". I sat in on this course during the fall semester of 2015. Cornell is now hosting an online MOOC on the same subject. To read my experience of "The GMO Debate" course, and what I was inspired to do in response, click here. Long story short: I decided to host my own course on GMO agriculture, in response to Cornell's starkly pro-GMO version. The entirety of this course, plus much more, will be available free, on this website, forever! It will be continually updated to reflect the latest findings and news on this incredibly complex , nuanced, and important topic. 

I am much more interested in the non-corrupted future of science than our current GMO paradigm ... particularly: human nutrition with respect to plant-based diets, ending the crisis of chronic human disease, actually ending world hunger with agroecology, authentically mitigating climate change, appropriate uses of technology (including some biotechnologies), and generally, a more nuanced, critical use of science as a tool to benefit humanity.

While I am grateful for the opportunity to begin the first earnest effort in ending biotech corruption at Cornell, this is a rather boring (yet necessary) distraction for me. GMO agriculture is such a hilariously ineffective and dangerous way of growing and distributing food, that it sometimes feels like a waste of time focusing on it. Yet due to a massive propaganda push, a huge percentage of academia faculty and students believe that GMOs are "the answer", and that supporting GMO agriculture is somehow equivalent to supporting "science" (a potent example of scientism). Until this trend is reversed, I will continue this project. 

On a deeper level, I feel my main mission in life goes beyond quibbling over the troubled state of science in today's world. I am here to assist in both ending of the global abuse and exploitation of animals, and ending world hunger. Both issues are tied at the hip, and also tied into the GMO paradigm, though not in the ways most people realize! While we can and will use science and policy help solve these crises, more often than not, our current scientific and political climates have kept us from authentic solutions, and have in many cases led to regression. GMO agriculture is a prime example. We will discuss all of this in-depth as part of our independent GMO course.

Thank you for your support, and being a part of my journey. Cheers!