Since world-renowned environmental and anti-GMO activist Vandana Shiva was speaking in Burlington this past weekend, and word has been spreading about the recent New Yorker “takedown” of her work by Michael Specter, I thought I would share the main sources on this flare-up in the worlds of environmental science, politics, and advocacy.
1) Specter’s New Yorker article, “Seeds of Doubt,” can be read here:
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/08/25/seeds-of-doubt
2) Shiva’s detailed response to it, “Seeds of Truth,” can be read here:
https://vandanashiva.com/?p=105
3) New Yorker editor David Remnick’s response to Shiva’s response can be read here:
https://www.geneticliteracyproject.org/2014/09/02/new-yorker-editor-david-remnick-responds-to-vandana-shiva-criticism-of-michael-specters-profile/
4) Shiva responds indirectly to Remnick in this interview with the Italian newspaper Repubblica:
https://www.repubblica.it/ambiente/2014/10/03/news/vandana_shiva_i_m_a_pain_in_the_neck_for_the_gmo_industry_they_want_to_discredit_me_but_i_will_continue_to_fight_-97239762/
(I’m not aware of a more direct response from her.)
5) Some further responses to the debate, from a range of environmentalist positions, can be found in these articles (and in the comments; see especially the 600 or so comments to the Grist piece):
https://www.gmwatch.org/index.php/news/archive/2014/15631-responses-to-specter-s-pro-gmo-article-in-the-new-yorker
https://www.foodpolitics.com/2014/08/on-two-views-of-gmos-michael-specter-vs-vandana-shiva-and-gary-hirshberg/
https://grist.org/food/vandana-shiva-so-right-and-yet-so-wrong/
See also the sources listed on this Society of Environmental Journalists page devoted to the controversy:
https://www.sej.org/headlines/seeds-doubt
As GMO manufacturers challenge Vermont’s Act 120, the first state legislation in the country to mandate GMO labeling, it can be expected that critics like Shiva will come under closer scrutiny. The debate, of course, exceeds the work of any single activist.
Courtesy of Adrian J. Ivakhiv, Professor of Environmental Studies/Environmental Thought & Culture, Rubenstein School of Environment & Natural Resources