The Fight Against Food Misinformation

Kavin Senapathy: Correcting Food Misinformation and Alarmism

By Patrick Cavanaugh, Deputy Editor

Kavin Senapathy, science communicator/advocate and contributor to Forbes Magazine, among others, is tightly focused on her goal to debunk miscommunication about human health, as well as genomic, food, and genetic engineering. Senapathy stated, “There is this culture of alarmism,” about food safety and food misinformation versus the science-based reality of our food safety management. “The alarmism and fear is so amplified, people don’t realize how very safe we are right now.”

Senapathy gets her facts from the source, “I speak to as many scientists as possible, and I know how to read and dissect a scientific paper. I know there is a very important difference between cherry picking from one study to support a bias, and looking at the weight of scientific evidence,” she said.FDA, FSMA Food Safety

“I also talk to farmers and I’m learning more about the hands-on practices,” Senapathy said. “California farmers produce a wide variety of fruits and vegetables,” she said, “and we all should be eating more of them.”

“I think a lot of the fear and misinformation take away from the message of eating the right things,” continued Senapathy. “Thinking, ‘I should avoid MSG, I should avoid GMOs or xyz additive,’ really detracts from the most important message—that we should be eating less unhealthy things like sodium and saturated fat, and not too many calories,” noted Senapathy. “We should be eating lots of fruits and vegetables and whole grains.”

And though she lives in Wisconsin, Senapathy says she is amazed by how many fruits and vegetables are available, even in the wintertime. “I can go to the grocery store in February and come home with grapes, strawberries, bananas, and all kinds of fruits and vegetables,” Senapathy said. “You know, we should marvel at the bounty of this more often.”

She’s quick to thank farmers for feeding her family and those of everyone, everywhere. “We forgetwith all the fear and misinformation in social mediathat our food supply is more abundant and safer than it has ever been,” she noted. “We should all be appreciative and thankful for that.”

2021-05-12T11:00:54-07:00May 12th, 2016|

Bayer AgVocacy Forum Connects Public with Food Production

Bayer Advocacy Forum Narrows Gap Between Public and Food Production

Food system, science and agriculture experts gather to discuss the convergence of food and the future of agriculture

NEW ORLEANS, La.  Advancing the conversation about the best ways to sustainably feed a growing population is the overarching theme for the 2016 AgVocacy Forum, sponsored by Bayer CropScience. Representatives from agriculture and consumer media will hear from thought leaders in science, nutrition and sustainable food production at the invitation-only event TODAY.

David Hollinrake, vice president, marketing & portfolio management, Bayer

David Hollinrake, vice president, marketing & portfolio management, Bayer

Formerly “Ag Issues Forum,” AgVocacy Forum continues a decade-long tradition of bringing together a diverse mix of people, experience and opinions to exchange ideas and philosophies that help shape and influence modern agriculture. This year’s event shines a spotlight on how being an “AgVocate” may help bridge the growing divide between consumers and those involved in food production.

“There are many challenges facing today’s food producer and perhaps none more important than building trust with consumers,” said David Hollinrake, vice president, marketing & portfolio management, Bayer. “We assembled experts at AgVocacy Forum to spark dialogue and bring focus to the steps needed to educate and engage a public that is increasingly detached from modern agriculture.”

Carolyn O'Neil, MS, RDN, former CNN correspondent

Carolyn O’Neil, MS, RDN, former CNN correspondent

Award-winning author and registered dietician, Carolyn O’Neil, kicked off the Forum last night with a keynote address sharing her insights on consumer preferences driving food trends. The program also featured 12-year-old Braeden Mannering who, while attending the “Kids’ State Dinner” at the White House, was challenged by First Lady Michelle Obama to “pay his experience forward.” Braeden’s response was to create Brae’s Brown Bags (3B), which battles food insecurity by providing healthy snacks to homeless and low-income individuals.

Braeden Mannering, founder Brae's Brown Bags (3B)

Braeden Mannering, founder Brae’s Brown Bags (3B)

Additional guest speakers include:

Kavin Senapathy, author of The Fear Babe: Shattering Vani Hari’s Glass House and regular contributor for Forbes.com

Dan Dye, CEO of Ardent Mills, a joint venture among Cargill, ConAgra Foods and CHS

Josiah Zayner, CEO of The ODIN and former NASA bioscientist

Charles Baron, co-founder and vice president of Farmers Business Network, a crowd-sourced program for data-driven agriculture

AgVocacy Forum is being skillfully moderated by Frank Sesno, director of the School of Media and Public Affairs at George Washington University and a former CNN correspondent, anchor and Washington D.C. Bureau Chief.

In conjunction with the event, the Bayer Foundation has made a $10,000 donation to the Orleans Parish 4-H chapter and will work with the chapter to install a Feed a Bee pollinator garden at Ben Franklin Elementary.

Watch a live stream of the AgVocacy Forum at www.agvocacyforum.com, and join the conversation by following @bayer4cropsus and using #AgVocate. Be sure to look for blog posts on the event at www.cropscience.bayer.us/news/blog.

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Bayer is committed to bringing new technology and solutions for agriculture and non-agricultural uses. For questions concerning the availability and use of products, contact a local Bayer representative, or visit Crop Science, a division of Bayer, online at www.CropScience.Bayer.us.

Visit the Bayer Connect – Social Hub for social media, recent news, blog posts, videos and more from Crop Science, a division of Bayer.

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Bayer: Science For A Better Life

Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the Life Science fields of health care and agriculture. Its products and services are designed to benefit people and improve their quality of life. At the same time, the Group aims to create value through innovation, growth and high earning power. Bayer is committed to the principles of sustainable development and to its social and ethical responsibilities as a corporate citizen.

Forward-Looking Statements

This release may contain forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts made by Bayer Group or subgroup management. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead to material differences between the actual future results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and the estimates given here. These factors include those discussed in Bayer’s public reports which are available on the Bayer website at www.bayer.com. The company assumes no liability whatsoever to update these forward-looking statements or to conform them to future events or developments.

2016-06-03T09:32:30-07:00March 2nd, 2016|
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