Center for Values Ends Series with Talk on Genetically Modified Food

The Center for Values in Medicine, Science and Technology will close its 2013-14 lecture series — Food for Thought: What Should We Eat — with a talk on the role of genetically modified organisms, or GMOs.

Dr. Roberta L. Millstein will present “Genetically Modified Food: Feeding the World or Fouling the World?” on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. in the Jonsson Performance Hall. The talk is free and open to the public.

“With so much at stake, the debates over GMOs have become increasingly heated. For example, GMO proponents accuse GMO critics — who sling terms like ‘Frankenfood,’ — of being anti-science,” Millstein said. “This assumes that the debate over GMOs is exclusively a debate over science. But is it? To what extent are values a part of the debate?”

Millstein argues that there is reason to proceed slowly and carefully in debates over GMOs, and to support the labeling of GMOs and foods that contain GMOs.

Millstein is a professor of philosophy and member of the Science and Technology Studies Program at the University of California, Davis. She is also affiliated with the UC Davis John Muir Institute of the Environment. Her current research focuses on intersections between evolutionary biology, ecology and environmental issues. She has contributed to and edited for many journals, including Philosophy of Science, Biology and Philosophy and The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science.

‘Food for Thought: Student Art Exhibition’

In conjunction with this year’s lecture series, the Center for Values has collaborated with UT Dallas professor of photography Marilyn Waligore to curate a student photography exhibit that examines the beauty and ugliness of food.

“Food for Thought: What Should We Eat? is a topic not only for philosophical and scientific considerations, but also compelling artistic explorations,” said Dr. Matthew Brown, director of the Center for Values.

Among the pieces in the exhibit is senior Christopher Wang’s “Vitamin C.” The photograph shows an apple pierced by a pencil and an assortment of fruit snacks and grapes grouped together.

“Apples represent knowledge, and the pencil represents technology, a relatively modern tool for recording knowledge and expressing human thought,” Wang said. “When the pencil pierces the apple, it is meant to show the tension between the natural world as we know it and the technological, scientific world that demands the revelation of the natural world’s secrets.”

Also included in the exhibit is Miki Bone’s “Untitled,” which depicts a green ice cream cone holding brightly colored candy.

“At first glance, the bright color and a tidy arrangement may seem appealing; but, like life, when the wrapping is removed hopefully the viewer will examine what is really underneath,” Bone said.

The student exhibit opens on Wednesday and will be displayed on the second floor of the Edith O’Donnell Arts and Technology Building until May 23.