Jeremy Rifkin (born January 26, 1945) is an economic and social theorist, writer, public speaker, political advisor and activist.
In this country, the health concerns and the environmental concerns are as deep as in Europe. All the surveys show that. But here, we didn't have the cultural dimension. This is a fast-food culture. Use this quote
The position I took at the time was that we hadn't really examined any of the potential environmental consequences of introducing genetically modified organisms. Use this quote
The interesting thing is, while we die of diseases of affluence from eating all these fatty meats, our poor brethren in the developing world die of diseases of poverty, because the land is not used now to grow food grain for their families. Use this quote
Back in 1983, the United States government approved the release of the first genetically modified organism. In this case, it was a bacteria that prevents frost on food crops. Use this quote
They're now turning those seeds into intellectual property, so they have a virtual lock on the seeds upon which we all depend for our food and survival. Use this quote
We are already producing enough food to feed the world. We already have technology in place that allows us to produce more than we can find a market for. Use this quote
The American public is not aware that there might be potential allergenic and toxic reactions. With regular food, at least people know which foods they have an allergy to. Use this quote
The public should know that the liability issues here have yet to be resolved, or even raised. If you're a farmer and you're growing a genetically engineering food crop, those genes are going to flow to the other farm. Use this quote
I wanted to make sure that this be the first scientific and technology revolution in history in which the public thoroughly discussed all the potential benefits and all the potential harms, in advance of the technology coming online and running its course. Use this quote
It may be that everything the life science companies are telling us will turn out to be right, and there's no problem here whatsoever. That defies logic. Use this quote
