It is universally recognized that vaccines have been among the most important innovations in modern civilization. Yet despite their incredible success and global scientific consensus on safety and effectiveness, challenges with public perception remain.
An Ipsos poll published in January found that 45 per cent of French adults said they would refuse a COVID-19 vaccine compared to 21 per cent in the UK and 30 per cent in Germany.
Despite these numbers, the French government has decided to stay the course with its vaccine rollout program and focus on education and awareness about the safety and effectiveness of vaccines. France’s government is siding with science.
Juxtapose France’s approach to vaccines to its approach on agriculture and you’ll be left scratching your head. France and much of Europe have long opposed agricultural biotechnology (the same kind of technology being harnessed in vaccine development) and adopted ideological approaches to regulating important tools like pesticides.
Gene editing is an exciting innovation that is coming to the forefront in agriculture and it has the ability to help take Canadian agriculture to the next level.
CropLife Canada and our value chain partners — including Seeds Canada — are committed to an open dialogue about agricultural innovations and that’s the reason we recently launched Nature Nurtured — a campaign to help raise the level of awareness and understanding about gene edited crops in Canada.
As the science continues to demonstrate the safety and value of this technology, we need the Canadian government — and governments around the world — to stand courageously for science in agriculture as they have done for science in vaccines. The alternative is standing directly in the way of agriculture’s ability to mitigate the impacts of climate change and contribute to greater food security.
Visit naturenurtured.ca for more info about gene editing and how it benefits all of us.
—Petelle is president and CEO of CropLife Canada
