Food Facts

          It's DEAD WEEK at UNL which means it's cram time for this gal! I have 3 final test next week and I also have a research paper due. Oh, and I am in Reno, NV for the Western Nugget Dec. 5-9th! Now, my paper is what I am going to talk about. ALEC 417 Issues Manangement and Crisis Communications was one of my favorite classes and what the paper is for. I enjoy the communications field and this helped me get some insight to what a communications person may do. Our professor was great too! It is a class required for my Nebraska Beef Industry Scholars Program to help us understand how to communicate as well as learn about what issues face our industry and how organizations montitor these issues and create a plan to prevent them from happening or to lessen the impact. Pretty cool in my mind!
          So my paper is called an issues brief. An issue brief is a concise document that summarizes an issue for of concern for management of an organization. For this project I chose Monsanto as my organization and the issue....can you guess an issue currently has Monsanto in the news a lot? Well it's an issue for several other organizations but I chose Monsanto for the purpose of its currency and media coverage.

The issue in my opinion: The development and use of genetically modified seeds in the food supply could potentially be dangerous to the health and well-being of peopel, animals, and the planet. Consumers' concerns are wrapped around five topics: what is a GMO, safety, nutrional value, environmental impact, and food labeling.

          While conducting my extensive research needed to find numerous sides of the issue and data to back up everything, I ran across some pretty helpful videos created by Best Food Facts who wants to "give you the opportunity to connect with food system experts around the country who have done the research, checked their work and want to share the results."

They created a 5 video series asking consumers the question "What Do You Want to Know About GMO Food?" Check them out below! I learned a lot by watching them and I know that there are plenty of consumers, especially mothers, who would like some answers to their questions pertaining to the food they feed their children.

GMO Safety

GMO 101

Nutrion

Environmental Impact

Labeling