Recap: Food and Fear Event

I have successfully returned from Missouri where I participated in the Food and Fear event hosted by the Independent Women’s Forum and Monsanto at Washington University. I had an amazing time at the event and the other activities we participated in. It was so much fun to meet people that I have been working with online for years now, as well as meet new people that are equally as passionate about these issues.

You can watch a full video of the event here:

In my article for AGDAILY last week, I explained exactly why this fear-based messaging for food products encouraged me to start a blog and begin a discussion on these topics. Succinctly put:

The idea that a person would go to the grocery store and feel confusion, anxiety, or fear about the decisions they are about to make makes me sad, angry, and extremely frustrated. We live in a time and country where we don’t have to worry about our food supply because it is the safest, best, and more abundant in the world and history. Absent some extraordinary considerations, no one should feel worry and stress about making food choices for their family.

We can do so much better than that. It is my hope that having discussions like the one we did during the Food and Fear event will help people recognize how these types of messages are used, avoid them in their decision making, and seek out the truth from qualified individuals. Identifying these deceitful marketing techniques is a good start at helping people and providing a line of defense against these messages.

I would be remiss if I did not mention my fellow panel members. I have worked with Steve Savage in the past and I am always interested in the articles and analysis he provides on topics. Steve has an amazing amount of experience and always has something interesting to share. I was equally excited to meet Joni Kamiya, a fellow blogger and farmer’s daughter from Hawaii. Joni and I have known each other almost since I first started blogging and I appreciate the passion she has for this topic. Speaking to her in person provided such a new perspective and insight on how exactly the anti-GMO movement has been able to manipulate and hijack the Hawaiian islands. Though I have not met or worked with either Dr. Lora Iannotti or Dr. Liza Dunn previously, I was so impressed with their areas of expertise and would have been perfectly content to sit in the audience and listen to their experiences for several hours longer than the panel lasted. I’m not sure it shows in the video, but I was so captivated by the information and perspectives they shared. I was quite humbled to be on a panel with all of these amazing people.

Thank you to everyone that came to the event and asked such wonderful and thoughtful questions, as well as to all the Michiganders that came up to introduce themselves (small world!). Of course, a big thank you to the Independent Women’s Forum (especially Julie Gunlock) and Monsanto for hosting this event and allowing me to be part of it. It was very well done and I’m honored that you thought to include me.