Senator Lindsey Graham Addresses Questions from CropLife America Concerning GMO's
184 views · Published 24 August 2015 · 1:56 · Indexed 20 September 2026
Channel: RFD-TV · 2015 · Entertainment
Sarah Doese from CropLife America Q: Hello Senator. Welcome to Iowa, we're happy to have you. My name is Sarah Doese, and I am the government relations intern for CropLife America, as well as a senior at Iowa State University, majoring in agricultural education. My question centers around health. If you were elected president, what would your administration's role be in food initiatives that promote health, without taking a person's right to choose what he or she eats? Such as soda bans in cities and school lunches. A: Senator Lindsey Graham: "Yeah food labeling, number one, if we're going to do that, we're going to do that nationwide. This war against GMOs is starving Africa. What would I do? I would not become the nanny state. You know, we're going to give people good information about nutrition. We have the most affordable, safe, abundant food supply in the world. Let's keep it the way it is. But this micromanaging from the federal level of what products we buy, and telling people what to eat, is going too far in my view. But let's get back to GMOs. Mr. Borlaug, is that his name? That guy is like a legend around here. I've been to Africa a bunch. The continent of Africa is the prize of the 21st century. The French, and the Germans, and the European nations are restricting GMOs that we develop here, to be sold to the African farming community, to double, quadruple, tenfold their yields. We're literally starving the farmers in Africa for no good reason. The time it takes to extend existing GMOs is, on average, four years. The time it takes to get a new scientific product to the market is seven to eight years. Your governor is really worried about this. So what would I do as president? I would improve the approval process. We want safe products out there, but the nanny state is creeping in, and we need to end it now. GMO fight is, I think, the fight. There's an effort by some people on the left to basically knock you all guys out of business. And look at how much more productive farms are today, versus 20, 30, 40, or 50 years ago. This anti-science movement has to stop."
