Safe Food_ Bacteria, Biotechnology, and Bioterrorism - Marion Nestle [102]
Like most else about food biotechnology, surveys of consumer attitudes are political. Industry leaders worry deeply about public acceptance and want to reassure consumers that transgenic foods are safe. It is very much in their interest to demonstrate that the public is unconcerned, and very much in the interest of antibiotechnology advocates to demonstrate the opposite. Surveys matter, and those devoted to food biotechnology constitute their own growth industry. Researchers have developed careers based on asking people what they think about genetically modified foods.
FIGURE 15. Peter Steiner’s drawing appeared in the New Yorker, July 24, 2000. The boy’s comment is a modern version of a dinner conversation depicted by Carl Rose in that magazine in 1928: “It’s broccoli, dear.” “I say it’s spinach, and I say the hell with it.” (© The New Yorker Collection 2000 Peter Steiner from cartoonbank.com. All rights reserved.)
My personal collection of consumer surveys dates back to 1987, when the now defunct congressional Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) commissioned the Harris organization to convene focus groups and conduct telephone interviews on the topic. Since then, government agencies, university groups, industry groups, professional groups, national magazines, Internet sites, survey organizations, and individual researchers have all tried their hand at figuring out what consumers think about genetically modified foods. Groups like the Pew Initiative and IFIC conduct frequent surveys to try to capture changes in attitudes over time.3
FIGURE 16. Sylvia’s dreams of science are based on some of the earliest and most attractive promises of agricultural biotechnology. (© 1990 Nicole Hollander. Used with permission.)
Despite substantial differences in the surveys—when they were conducted, who asked the questions, how the questions were worded, what they probed, and who answered them—the results are remarkable for their overall consistency. I think the following statements constitute a fair summary: Most people do not know very much about the scientific basis of food biotechnology but are intrigued by its promises. They expect the foods to produce benefits for society and, perhaps, for themselves. Although they are uneasy about the safety of the foods (a dread factor), they think the benefits likely to outweigh any risks. They are more likely to favor some genetically engineered foods over others, particularly those that seem to improve health or the environment, or that might save money or time. The cartoon in figure 16 nicely captures these views. On the other hand, the surveys also reveal considerable doubt about the government’s ability to ensure the safety of the new foods and even greater doubt about the industry’s willingness to make decisions in the public interest—particularly because genetically engineered foods are not labeled (an important outrage factor). As we will see in the next chapter, people in other countries share these attitudes but are more explicitly outraged by the ways biotechnology companies exercise control of the food supply.4
The results of these surveys come as no surprise. They are fully consistent with the research on risk communication discussed in the introduction, and they have considerable predictive value. Most people are vaguely or somewhat uneasy about eating the foods, mainly because they are not convinced that the industry and government are doing much to ensure safety or act in the interest of consumers. The lack of labeling is a critical factor: “What are they trying to hide from us?” Food biotechnology leaders, however, behave as if safety is a sufficient reason for trust: if the foods are safe, there is no reason to reject them. The surveys reveal that other concerns—those summarized in table 2 (page 17)—are just as important as safety and are often more important.