The Daily Show looks at the GMO potato... and sides with agribusiness

The Daily Show comes down on the side of GMOs
(Image credit: The Daily Show)

The USDA has approved a genetically modified potato created by Simplot — an Idaho company that Daily Show correspondent Aasif Mandvi has had hairy run-ins with before. Because of that history, and because Big Agribusinesses like Monsanto are the bad guy so often, Mandvi started out his report on GMO potatoes talking sympathetically with Jeffrey Smith at the Institute for Responsible Technology, who calls GMOs one of the most dangerous food additives mankind has ever developed.

But then Mandvi interviews Walter DeJong, a potato scientist at Cornell University. And it turns out most scientists think GMOs are safe, and sometimes even beneficial. It gets worse for GMO opponents — many of whom probably watch The Daily Show. My small quibble: Why didn't they call David Suzuki? —Peter Weber

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.