Food Evolution

Filmmaker Scott Hamilton Kennedy’s documentary about the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in agriculture is somewhat surprising, as it favors GMOs while criticizing organic farming as an ill-informed, elitist alternative that would reduce yields in regions that desperately need increased food supply. Narrated by famed astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, the film’s major argument is that confidence should be placed in scrupulous, unbiased scientific research rather than theories that lack a solid evidentiary basis, and are often put forward out of purely emotional (and sometimes financial) motives. Eschewing polemics for reasoned fact-finding, Food Evolution does feature a multitude of anti-GMO voices, including one of the movement’s major spokespersons, Professor Chuck Benbrook, previously of Washington State University. But it also favors those positively disposed toward GMOs, and even has nice things to say about the much-reviled chemical firm Monsanto, whose chief technology officer Robert Fraley faces off against Benbrook in an Intelligence Squared U.S. debate—and wins the vote of the initially skeptical audience. Among those converted is self-styled "Science Guy" Bill Nye, who revises his opinion after meeting company researchers. (The film also reports, with a hint of smugness, that Benbrook’s position at WSU was terminated after it was discovered that his supposedly independent studies were tainted by funding from outside sources.) Overall, Kennedy’s film clearly presents a pro-GMO point of view, but does so in a calm, seemingly dispassionate fashion that makes it all the more persuasive. Featuring both the full-length version and a 52-minute abridged edition, this is recommended. Aud: C, P. (F. Swietek)