The Future of Food: Exploring the Politics, Ethics, and Impacts of Genetic Engineering

Just about twenty years ago, several dozen of the nation’s leading scientists, ethicists, and environmentalists gathered at Commonweal to draft a declaration of principles for the regulation, policy, and commercialization of the emerging technologies of genetically engineered organisms. The result? The Pacific Declaration.

Now, two decades later, with the rapid expansion of genetically engineered organisms throughout the food system and emergent in animal agriculture and beyond, the wisdom—and caution—of The Pacific Declaration is just as relevant; its words prescient.

To mark this anniversary milestone and reflect on the current context and what we can learn from this history,  Anna Lappé—the daughter of one of the Declaration’s founding signatories—author Claire Cummings, The Center for Food Safety’s Rebecca Spector, The Cultural Conservancy’s Melissa Nelson, and others at the forefront of the conversation about genetic engineering came together to talk about the future of food.

Watch the webinar below.