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Could you be holding the answer to GMO labeling?

Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack took part in the Presidential Lecture Series at Purdue yesterday. Several topics were addressed over the hour-long conversation – including the labeling of products containing genetically modified organisms. “These referendums and legislative inactments basically create conflict,” he says.  “They don’t allow the opportunity for agriculture to convey a positive message to other 99 percent of Americans that do not farm.”

Secretary Vilsack tells Brownfield in his opinion consumers have the right to know – but not in a way that is a mistaken impression of the safety of the product.

He says the solution could be found in a device we use every day. “One way to do that would be to have an extended bar code or QR code – some kind of mechanism that could be accessed through a smartphone or a scanner at a grocery store,” he says.  “Then those that want to know can find out – but they find out in a way that doesn’t send the wrong impressions about the product.”

Vilsack joined Purdue President Mitch Daniels on a series of lab tours and briefings on university research on campus yesterday.