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

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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.