This billboard went up around the U.S. on Earth Day and will stay through Mother’s Day, effectively tugging at the heartstrings of young families. In this article, Moms Across America’s Zen Honeycutt makes multiple inaccurate and misleading statements. Here, she refers to GMO’s:
“It’s sort of like smoking,” said Honeycutt. “Some have ill health effects, some do not. The difference is that smoking is a choice, but eating isn’t.”
Ms. Honeycutt, I grow Genetically Engineered sugar beets and I find your analogy to be quite a whopper.
First, this plant breeding technology has been deemed safe by many international scientific agencies, including the American Medical Association. Millions of acres of GE crops have been planted worldwide since the mid-1990’s with no ill health effects – not so much as a sniffle. In fact, I feed “GMO’s” to my own children and grandchildren and I assure you they are every bit as healthy as Ms. Honeycutt’s family. Her comparison to tobacco is unsubstantiated and irresponsible.
Second, she is correct that smoking is a choice and we all need to eat. However, we do indeed have a choice when it comes to WHAT we eat; certified organic is available as well as Non-GMO Project, usually at a higher price. But to tout organic as being more healthy and nutritious than conventional or GE is simply untrue. Certified Organic does not mean pesticide-free, and the claim that organic crops are better for the Earth is another untruth. To suggest that families “get better” by eating organic puts unnecessary stress on parents who, like the rest of us, want their children to be healthy but simply don’t have the extra money in their budget.
The wonderful thing about our country is that we get to make choices. To each his or her own! Let parents decide for themselves what’s best for their family without bashing an entire segment of the agriculture industry by making patently false statements. Whether consumers choose to buy organic or not, I would hope their decision is based on facts and not on a mom-shaming billboard.
http://www.agprofessional.com/news/billboards-take-unproven-attack-conventional-agriculture 
thesweetbeetlife.com 