Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
moratorium on GM foods is effectively lifted in most countries of the
EU, it remains to be seen how consumers will respond to the appearance
of GM products on the supermarket shelves.
The Unresolved Question of PublicParticipation
Whereas most participants in the debate agree about the central role
of broadly based, inclusive societal discourse on policy making and risk
assessment and management, there is much less clarity in the literature
on how to create an effective discourse and participation, or what exactly
its objectives would be.
42
With regard to the objectives of public partic-
ipation, the open questions include: would it seek to reduce the public
mistrust of the public institutions, and thus empower these institutions to
act in the public interest? Would it seek to educate the public about the
benefits and risks of GMOs, and thus help them make individual choices
as consumers? Would it help the regulatory agencies to understand pub-
lic concerns, and thus make more informed and possibly more effective
public policies? Or perhaps other objectives should be chosen?
Several studies have in fact shown that better education and outreach
to the general public does not necessarily reduce controversy or increase
public trust in regulatory agencies. For example, one study
43
showed that
more information polarizes the existing attitudes rather than opening
peoples' minds to other views; consumers with initially negative values
become even more negative, while consumers with initially positive val-
ues become even more positive. In another study
44
it appeared that more
42
See Kuiper et. al, supra. 2004; See also Frewer et al., Societal Aspects of Geneti-
cally Modified Foods, 42
Food and Chemical Toxicology
1181-1193 (2004) and Borras,
supra.
43
Frewer et al., supra.
44
J. Scholderer, & L. J. Frewer, The Biotechnology Communication Paradox: Experi-
mental Evidence and the Need for a New Strategy, 26
Journal of Consumer Policy
125-127 (2003).
