Controversy surrounding Dr. Vandana Shiva at U of G

I was personally disappointed to learn that the University of Guelph’s Central Student Association (CSA) will be sponsoring modern agriculture critic Dr. Vandana Shiva on Oct. 7 without any apparent plans of hosting others with differing views. I believe that no other institution, in our country, is better positioned to champion food security than we can right here at Guelph.

I am a proud University of Guelph student who takes immense pride in being part of an institution that encourages multiple viewpoints and perspectives while we study sound science. This is why I find this choice of a speaker, and providing her with an apparently exclusive platform, both disappointing and limiting for those of us who are seriously interested and invested in the issue of food security.

At any university, or in any democracy, it’s essential that a diversity of voices are heard and offered in balance. Given that this isn’t the case for this event, here are a few points to consideration:
Dr. Shiva’s criticism and views of science and technology have been dismissed by many credible media outlets including Forbes and New Yorker magazines. She consistently speaks out against the advancements of modern agriculture. The University of Guelph is the Canadian leader in agricultural research, and home to the Ontario’s Agricultural College (OAC). Dr. Shiva speaks against the very technologies that are being studied and developed in University of Guelph laboratories and research stations. When the world needs scientific answers on how to farm and feed people, our university and the OAC is there to provide them.

There are many, many experts who can speak about global food issues, many of whom are located right here at the University of Guelph and don’t come with a significant price tag. For example, Dr. Evan Fraser is the creator of the ‘Feeding Nine Billion’ campaign, which speaks about global food security, and Dr. Andreas Boecker, who studies the economic impact of GMO foods. Both these professors have offices on the U of G campus.

Dr. Shiva claims to be a champion of the poor and a defender of the impoverished, yet she publicly opposes Golden Rice production, the crop that holds part of the solution to world hunger. I understand that the issue is much more complex than producing a large enough quantity of food, and I appreciate that many social issues need to be solved before we will all have enough to eat. However, as an agriculture student, I think it is important that those of us who farm and support the agricultural sector locally and globally, come together with individuals in international development to solve the growing global food crisis, not divide or limit potential solutions.

The University of Guelph successfully launched the Better Planet Project, which promoted the integration of food, environment, health, and community. As Dr. Shiva speaks loud and clear about her positions regarding modern agriculture, she clearly doesn’t see the benefit of a multi-industry approach to the global food crisis.
Student fees financially support the CSA, which means that all students at the University of Guelph are paying part of her speaker fee and expenses. There is no one speaker who can address the important topic of food security in its entirety, while appealing to each of the 20,000 students at the U of G. However, I would suggest that a more balanced approach towards selecting speakers with different viewpoints and experience is needed. Perhaps speakers who understand the scientific agricultural advancement and the versatility of the work done at our university would be more suitable. If you give students the opportunity to examine issues with more depth and allow them to utilize critical thinking when choosing sources of information, then perhaps we can let individuals develop their own opinions about agricultural technology and advancement.