027 | GMOs, Organic Labeling, and Food Myths with the Food Science Babe
Listen to Advocacy: GMOs, Organic Labeling, and Food Myths with the Food Science Babe on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | Google Podcasts | iHeart Radio
About GMOs, Organic Labeling, and Food Myths
Today, we are excited to have an Advocacy episode! In these episodes, we’ll cover topics around advocating for agriculture and interviewing changemakers in the industry who are passionate about ag. In this episode of GMOs, Organic Labeling, and Food Myths with the Food Science Babe, we cover several important topics including:
Debunking common myths in the food industry
The lack of information about GMOs
Food regulations and labels in the US vs Europe
How to change from a defensive advocate approach to an offensive approach
This episode starts out with Erin covering her background and experience in the food industry. She discusses that her journey in food started when she started looking at food labels and getting curious about what was going in her body. Her story deepened when she had her baby girl about six years ago and was even more aware of what goes into our food and the marketing around it.
Jumping right into the hot topics, Tara is dying for Erin’s opinion on GMOs. Erin starts the conversation by mentioning that the term “GMO” isn’t a scientific term used to differentiate food. In fact, it’s more of a marketing term than anything else. She goes on to explain all of our modern-day crops have been modified to some extent. The largest takeaway from this conversation is that “Non-GMO” is just a label that can be put on any kind of food that doesn’t can’t even be GMO to start with and orange juice is a great example. At the end of the day, people are paying more for “non-GMO” foods that can’t even be modified in the first place. Her biggest goal online is to help people understand that “non-GMO” is just a label and that it’s arbitrary.
Wrapping up on GMOs, Tara jumps over to discussing the food regulations differences between the US and Europe. Erin discusses that while there is a heavy focus on things being banned in Europe that we have here in the US, there is also food banned in the US that is allowed in Europe. The key is that these regulations go both ways. Another great example is when people try to compare products side by side, and she reminds us that products are often very much alike but are mostly just labeled differently. The label requirements are completely different here in the US compared to Europe. In this episode, Erin covers several other examples so make sure to tune in!
Natalie brings up a great point in the conversation where most advocates play the “defense” game in reaction to articles and videos that come out against food and agriculture. Erin and Natalie go back and forth discussing how to change the narrative around how to get ahead of those articles and videos in a way to educate consumers before they have to "debunk” something. One of the largest issues is being aware of the misinformation and trying to get ahead of it before it circulates too far on social media.
For all of this and much more, you’re going to want to watch this episode with the Food Science Babe!
About the Food Science Babe
Erin, known to most as the Food Science Babe, is a food scientist who holds a BS in Chemical Engineering from the University of Minnesota and has worked in the food industry for over a decade. Her specialty lies in both the conventional and natural/organic sectors of the food industry. Erin’s mission is to combat misleading food claims online by using her #factsnotfear campaign to share the real truth about agriculture, food marketing, and much more.
Resources and links mentioned in this episode:
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