“We need to produce more food not just to keep up with population but because poverty is gradually being eradicated, along with the widespread malnutrition, that still today means close to 800 million people go to bed hungry each night.” Mark Lynas’ talk was packed full of facts and knowledge about Genetically Modified Organisms are beneficial to us. Out of all the things he said, this statement resonated with me the most. The issue of world hunger has always been the reason I’m for the use of Genetically Modified Organisms in production. It amazed me that so many countries like Africa and India, who are overpopulated, had a different opinion. Why wouldn’t you want to use a technique that could bring us closer to solving world hunger? I don’t think it’s because they don’t care about those in food deserts. The lack of education is the real problem.

Mark Lynas is the perfect example. After doing a lot of research into GMOs he changed his viewpoint from defaming GMOs to being a gigantic proponent for them and the positive changes they can bring to our world. If we could find ways to bring that education to those countries and even to those in our country, I think we would find a lot of people changing their views. After watching this video, I asked my roommate what her opinion was on GMOs, she said “I don’t know that much about them but aren’t they bad? Doesn’t that mean they’re putting chemicals on our food?” This just shows the impact our media and society has on the uneducated. She knows nothing about Genetically Modified Organisms but because of the labeling she sees on groceries or commercials she sees on TV she just assumed they were bad. I wish everyone was required to watch Mark Lynas’ speech, even if they don’t agree with him by the end at least they have had a chance to see both sides and form their own opinion. Lynas’ speech was passionate and intrigued my interest in being a part of educating others in hopes that one day we can lower the number of those going to bed hungry each night.