Addressing Public Perceptions of Modern Agriculture

The Co-Directors of the Plant Agricultural Biotechnology Graduate Admissions Pathway (Drs. Diane Beckles and John Harada) and the Interim Director of the World Food Center and Head of the Seed Biotechnology Center, Dr. Kent Bradford, invited members of the UC Davis community to participate in a panel discussion centered on how the public perceives modern agriculture, with emphasis on genetically modified crops and food. 

A focal point of the discussion was to determine how we as scientists can better communicate with and educate the public on these issues to obtain a social license to use modern agricultural technologies. 

The panelist for this event included: Dr. Channapatna Prakash, Professor, Tuskegee University; Dr. Gurdev Khush, Professor Emeritus, UC Davis; Mr. Raoul Adamchak, Farm Manager, UC Davis Farms; Dr. Charlotte Biltekoff, Professor of American Studies and Food Science and Technology, UC Davis; and Dr. Peggy Lemeaux, Cooperative Extension Specialist in Crop Biotechnology UC Berkeley). 

Student Representative from ScienceSays (Destiny Davis, Isaiah Mohr and Deborah Fetter) and Tuesday Simmonds from UC CLEAR (Communication, Literacy, Education for Agricultural Research) were also part of the panel. Special thanks to Shannon Albers, former Program, Educational and Outreach Coordinator of  IFAL (Institute for Food & Agricultural Literacy) for help in organizing the program.