Former Greenpeace UK president Lord Peter Melchett asked the New Yorker to focus on anything but the science when writing an article on genetically improved foods. “If you write something, it shouldn’t be about the science. You’d be missing the point. People do things for all sorts of reasons that are rational, but they are not scientific or technical.”
Melchett didn’t want to focus on the science because he knew that genetically improved foods were perfectly safe. Melchett’s decision to oppose genetically improved food was perfectly rational. By scaring the public, Melchett created a market for the organic food. Since the organic market is booming, Melchett can now retire to his organic farm to make a handsome living filling the need he created. (Check out “Lord Melchett: the payoff and hypocrisy ” by Anthony Trewavas, head of the Institute of Cell and Molecular Biology, University of Edinberg)
