genetically modified

This week on Eat Your Words, host Cathy Erway is joined by author McKay Jenkins. McKay is professor of English, journalism, and environmental humanities at the University of Delaware. Cathy and McKay talk about a very hot topic around the world: GMOs, or genetically modified organisms. Advocates hail GMOs as a harmless extension of natural selection, and even further as the key to ending global hunger and malnutrition. Critics, on the other hand, dismiss GMOs as the playthings of greedy corporations who are eager to squeeze every last dollar out of the land they work on while inadvertently poisoning their consumers.

How bad is pink slime? Are free-range chickens happier? Can robots cook? Jayson Lusk of Oklahoma State University and the author of Unnaturally Delicious talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about these questions and more from his new book. Lusk explores the wide-ranging application of technology to farming, cooking, protein production, and more.

Greg Page, former CEO of Cargill, the largest privately-held company in America, talks to EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the global food supply and the challenges of running a company with employees and activity all over the world. Page talks about the role of prices in global food markets in signaling information and prompting changes in response to those signals. Other topics include government's role in agriculture, the locavore movement and genetically modified organisms (GMOs).