Political Quotes

“I think my colleague summed it all up in the word ``freedom''--the freedom to choose. And that freedom to choose--if it is between wild fish and farmed fish, we facilitate that by giving the information on the package. If it is the freedom to choose between juice from concentrate versus fresh squeezed--juice from concentrate or fresh juice--that, in fact, is a freedom of the consumer, and they can exercise it from the package. If someone decides they want to have a product that is vitamin A enriched, such as golden rice which has been done by GE engineering-- maybe they need more vitamin A--they should have the freedom to choose it. In fact, my point here is that there are scientific studies that show benefits in a variety of circumstances from genetic engineering, and there are studies that show legitimate concerns. On the benefits side we have cases--for example, sweet potatoes--in which they have been made to resist viruses that kill. In South Africa, that has been very important to the growth of sweet potatoes and the provision of that as part of a significant source of food in parts of that country. Then there is golden rice being enriched with vitamin A in regions of the world where people eat primarily rice, but they really lack vitamin A. But there are also studies that show concern. Shouldn't we as consumers have freedom?…”