Child Nutrition Programs, National School Lunch Program
Just when the backlash over first lady Michelle Obama’s school lunch
menu leveled off, students in a handful of Twin Cities schools got a
taste of what could be another controversial food fad.
The main course? Non-GMO (genetically modified organisms) meals.
“Having the GMO awareness day for our district was to really show that whether you agree with consuming GMOs or not, consumers should have the right to make that choice,” said Laura Metzger, Westonka schools’ director of food and nutrition services.
The Hopkins, Minneapolis, Orono, Shakopee and Westonka school districts served up the issue in November to underscore society’s increasing reliance on plants, animals and organisms that are genetically modified to enhance food nutrition and production. Most processed foods in the United States contain ingredients such as GMO canola, corn, cotton, soy, sugar beets and other products.
As word spread, at least one critic in the agricultural press accused the schools of going too far under the headline “school is for factual learning, not anti-GMO rhetoric.”
Minnesota agriculture relies heavily on GMO-based crops, research and biotech companies that produce enormous benefits to the state economy.
The one-day educational event unfolded in the neighborhood of one of the world’s most powerful food distributors and proponents of GMO products — Cargill, headquartered in suburban Wayzata.
The main course? Non-GMO (genetically modified organisms) meals.
“Having the GMO awareness day for our district was to really show that whether you agree with consuming GMOs or not, consumers should have the right to make that choice,” said Laura Metzger, Westonka schools’ director of food and nutrition services.
The Hopkins, Minneapolis, Orono, Shakopee and Westonka school districts served up the issue in November to underscore society’s increasing reliance on plants, animals and organisms that are genetically modified to enhance food nutrition and production. Most processed foods in the United States contain ingredients such as GMO canola, corn, cotton, soy, sugar beets and other products.
As word spread, at least one critic in the agricultural press accused the schools of going too far under the headline “school is for factual learning, not anti-GMO rhetoric.”
Minnesota agriculture relies heavily on GMO-based crops, research and biotech companies that produce enormous benefits to the state economy.
The one-day educational event unfolded in the neighborhood of one of the world’s most powerful food distributors and proponents of GMO products — Cargill, headquartered in suburban Wayzata.
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