Mixed Messages Muddle Student Attitudes on Genetic Modification
Josh Kruskal 
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Genetically modified (GM) crops have been marketed and sold to the public since 1994. As an entire generation has grown up surrounded by genetically modified organisms (GMOs), attitudes towards modified foods have gradually trended towards a more favorable outlook. With more than 90 percent of crops such as corn and soybeans now being grown in the U.S. using GM strains, modified foods have become a ubiquitous yet controversial feature of the American food landscape.
Internationally, consumption and public acceptance of GM foods have both grown steadily for a quarter-century. The first GM plant was grown in Belgium in 1983. Thirty-five years later, a team of researchers from the University of Ghent surveyed 4,000 Belgian schoolchildren to learn more about how attitudes towards GM foods are being formed in a world where GMOs are now the norm, rather than an exception.
Bourgonjon et al. assessed students’ relative willingness to eat GM foods through a survey designed to get at the heart of the perceived benefits and risks of consumption. The researchers asked students to indicate on a scale of one to five how much they agreed or disagreed with 47 food-related statements. The statements included: I am afraid to eat things I have never had before, Applying gene technology in food production is necessary, and If a fish gene is inserted in a tomato, the tomato will taste like fish.
In total, the researchers surveyed 4,002 second-, fourth- and sixth-year students from 125 Belgian schools. In general, students were more willing to eat GMOs than the researchers had expected based on earlier findings in Belgium from the European Commission’s Eurobarometer survey. Despite being more willing to eat GM foods, the students’ survey responses highlighted an overall indecisiveness about genetic modification. The researchers suggested that many students could still be in an “awareness phase”—a period during which somebody thinks passively about a new technology without actually weighing risks or benefits or forming an opinion.
The survey measured both subjective and objective knowledge about GM foods—how much students think they know, and how much they actually know. Across the board, students’ assessments of their own knowledge significantly exceeded their actual level of knowledge. This, the researchers argued, suggested that students do not have enough relevant knowledge to make informed decisions about consuming GMOs and that many students will think they have enough knowledge before they actually do. The survey also confirmed a negative correlation between fear of new foods and willingness to eat GM foods; the more picky a child is, the less likely they are to try different foods, GMOs included. The survey also found that, in general, boys tended to be more accepting of GM foods than girls. Compared to the measurements for girls, perceptions of GM food benefits are higher for boys while perceptions of risk are lower.
The researchers also found a positive correlation between trust in industry and willingness to eat GM foods. A second correlation—between trust in environmental NGOs and willingness to eat GM foods—contradicted the hypothesis that trusting environmental groups would lower students’ acceptance of GMOs. The researchers speculate that this discrepancy may be the result of students not being able to distinguish between different sources of information.
This study suggests that attitudes towards GM foods are formed long before children are able to make informed decisions. Messages from industry and environmental groups – as well as from parents, friends and schools – play a significant role in determining the extent to which a student is willing to accept GMOs as part of their diet.
Genetic modification is an indispensable tool with the potential to reduce and even end world hunger. So as global reliance on GM food increases, it is critical that positive and constructive attitudes are encouraged from an early age. However, GMOs continue to elicit fear and suspicion, which could lead to bad policies that stymie efforts to develop new, helpful and healthful crops. As successive generations become more familiar and comfortable with GMOs, it is vital that education and agricultural policy work together to ensure that the public attitudes that inform decisions that impact food security, regulation and public health are backed up by a solid understanding of the science behind genetic modification.
Article source: Bourgonjon, Jeroen, “Variables Affecting Secondary School Students’ Willingness to Eat Genetically Modified Food Crops.” Research in Science Education 48(3). (2018): 597-618.
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