Unboxing GMO Ethos Chocolate

Frank N Foode poses with some GMO Ethos chocolate

For Valentine’s Day in 2019, A Fresh Look did something unusual. They launched the first GMO chocolate campaign, called Ethos Chocolate, and ran out of their stock in less than a day! There was plenty of excitement as free chocolates started to arrive, but not everyone got to try one. Now you can try them with me! I saved my box of Ethos Chocolate, and made an unboxing video. I tasted each one and talked about the stories that were told in chocolate form. My goal is to answer the question – is this GMO chocolate campaign Bitter, or Sweet?

Unpacking Ethos Chocolate stories

Each chocolate tells a different story about crop biotechnology and bioengineered foods. Papaya tells the story of survival, while a non-browning apple touches on trend-setting. An orange-flavored chocolate represents heroism, and dark chocolate carries the theme of optimism. Ethos chocolate has one more story to tell – did you find a fifth one in your box?

GMO Ethos chocolate on a tray with a glass of milk

I also talk about who is behind the Ethos chocolates, A Fresh Look, and critically analyze one response from a prominent critic of biotechnology. Is something missing from this chocolate campaign that needed to be right up front, or is it just a misunderstanding?

Finally, Ethos chocolates communicated something fresh about climate change that came from an unexpected source. Did you notice it? Because I certainly did – and I’m excited to tell you about it. Watch the video, and tell me what you think about Ethos chocolates!

Another chance to Feed your Ethos

If you didn’t get to try Ethos chocolates, now you have a chance to. They have re-launched their chocolate campaign, but this time you have to make a donation to their organization to get one. Getting free chocolates was pretty sweet, but if you’ve grown accustomed to chocolatey gifts you might find the donation level a little bitter-tasting. Why do they have to tug at our heart-strings like this?!

If you got a box of Ethos chocolates, what did you think of them? Were they just what you asked for, or could they be improved? Telling stories about biotechnology with food is a great way to reach the public about the impact of this technology, and teach about the underlying science. What stories do you think they should tell if they made new chocolates with different flavors?

GMO crops vandalized in Oregon

Oregon_Jackson_County_Map — Jackson County, Oregon

On the night of June 8 this year, vandals broke into a field of genetically engineered sugar beets in Oregon owned by Syngenta, a Swiss company, and destroyed about 1,000 plants. Then three days later, a second such incident occurred, this time destroying about 5,500 plants. Federal investigators are seeking information about these incidents, and Oregonians for Food & Shelter have offered a reward of $10,000 for any information that leads to the arrest of the individuals responsible for these acts of vandalism.
Both incidents occurred in rural Jackson County, on the Southern border of Oregon. The beets were genetically engineered to resist the herbicide Glyphosate, the main ingredient in Roundup, which is a common trait for many genetically engineered crops currently on the market. This trait is desired by sugar beet farmers because it can improve their weed control, which currently requires multiple different herbicides to accomplish. The destruction of these beet plants is reported as a significant loss, which the federal government has classified as “economic sabotage.”
Few details have been released about how exactly these incidents occurred from Syngenta, for the reason that the company does not want to encourage copycats. Oregon live reports that the vandalism appears to have been conducted on foot, as no vehicle tracks were found.
Anyone with information is asked to call the FBI at (541) 773-2942 during normal business hours or the FBI in Portland at (503) 224-4181 twenty-four hours a day. Tips may also be emailed into Portland@ic.fbi.gov. Continue reading →

Sugar beet biology

Roundup Ready sugar beets have been back in the news due to the decision by Judge White to revoke approval. As I understand it, the USDA conduced an Environmental Assessment for Roundup Ready sugar beets but did not conduct an Environmental Impact Statement. According to regulation, an EA is sufficient if potential harm is found to be minimal, but an EIS is needed for anything that is less well understood, such as a new trait (and this is hardly a new trait). After reading the EA, I agree with the USDA that the potential environmental harm is minimal, and I think the potential economic harm is minimal as well, due to some very specific characteristics of beet biology, which I’ll explain in this post, followed by a discussion of mitigation strategies that might be used to control gene flow in beets (sorry, folks, this is going to be another long one).
Continue reading “Sugar beet biology” →