One of the key points that really stood out to me in this document was the knowledge gap about gene editing. In one of my other classes, we were just learning about this and how the gap between people who think gene editing and scientist who think gene editing is safe is large than the gap between people who think climate change is fake and scientists who think it is real. This is a significant problem when it comes to progress because there is a lot more people who don’t know what there are talking about and are denouncing something while at the same time the people that are spending all their time working on it are saying it is good. This causes significant limitations to problems and can be fixed with the thing everyone has with them all the time. If people used their internet access to learn about issues before they spoke out against something, we could be moving along at a much better rate.

Genetically modified food is one of the most efficient ways to feed the growing world population because it is able to reduce the risk of disease in crops, and farmers are able to produce more output with the same amount of acreage (this way the farmers make more money as well). However, after reading the article, it is apparent that many people are misinformed about the largely beneficial nature of this process.

People generally like to know where there food comes from, and more importantly, if that food is safe; “2 out of 3 consumers want to know about how food is produced and who’s producing it.” These same people sometimes don’t trust GMO strategies in crop production because it seems to them that the process is unnatural, and that the GMO’s could potentially be harmful.

The best way to educate people on the great aspects of GMO’s is with sound scientific data presented by respected scientific communities because that is what the public would put greater faith in. It is very important to educate and communicate these ideas so the population stands as one in the regard to the advancement of agriculture in a drastically changing and growing world.

The Center for Food Integrity released an issue on gene editing and how to engage in the conversation about gene editing to consumers. Throughout there were interesting statistics such as the opening statistic of 2 out of 3 consumers want to know more about how food is produced and who’s producing it and more than half of consumers want to know more about gene-editing technology. Out of half of those consumers, 1/3^rd have a limited understanding of genes and food. For example, 32% of consumers think vegetables do not have DNA but 2/3^rd of consumers think gene editing in humans is okay. This makes it the perfect place to enter the conversation about the world of genetics and agriculture. By being able to connect the population’s understanding of gene editing to agriculture makes the topic more understandable. The journal goes on to give more steps and tips about informing the public about gene editing in agriculture. For example, one should talk about evolution not the revolution of genes; this could also link to another talking point about yield improvements. Many consumers want more environmentally friendly agriculture, by linking gene use to agriculture this educates consumers on the environmental benefits of genetically modified organisms. The most important thing to remember when talking to consumers about genes in agriculture is values are 3-5 times more important than facts. Connect consumers to agriculture by explaining how agriculture is, in fact, meeting consumer values.