Michael Mack, CEO of Syngenta, said some of the debate over food technologies like GMOs is “a Western luxury.”
“Two billion people don’t have enough micronutrients, a billion people don’t have enough macronutrients, two billion people are overweight. So the conversation around such things as technologies, and GMO is just one of many technologies,” Mack told HuffPost Live at Davos. “These are all part of the debate, but let’s not lose sight of the really big issues that are going on, which is seven billion people are going to become ten [billion], and technologies, and food production systems, and safety, and health are all part of the mix over the long term.”
Mack argued that transparency over GMOs “is getting pretty tightly wound together with labeling,” saying people in the U.S. have “failed to appreciate” that labeling was always done for the purposes of safety.
“I think it is useful and important for people to imagine, ‘where’s my food coming from?'” Mack said.
“What people don’t appreciate is just how intensive agriculture is around the world,” Mack added.
Below, live updates from the 2015 Davos Annual Meeting:
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“It’s pretty powerful to have access to anything, anytime,” Shlain said.
Shlain said she really tries “creatively” not to be on screens all the time. She observes Shabbat every week, which gives her one full day of unplugging.
Tiffany Shlain said she’s excited about the future of television and film on the Internet.
“Ultimately I’m trying to elevate the conversation, so I think the online space is a very exciting space for filmmakers right now. There’s just no doubt about it,” she said.
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— Arianna Huffington (@ariannahuff) January 23, 2015
David Gelles said he devotes a chapter in his book to “McMindfulness,” or a watered-down version of mindfulness practices.
“Inasmuch as people are really practicing and doing the work, it’s still going to work its magic,” Gelles said.
Gelles said everyone should be able to make time for mindfulness practices.
“I think we all have time. If we all have time to check our smart phones and browse the web, we likely all have time for more virtuous activities,” Gelles said.
New York Times reporter David Gelles, who authored an upcoming book called Mindful Work: How Meditation Is Changing Business From The Inside Out, stopped by the HuffPost Live studio at Davos on Friday.
Gelles spoke on how mindfulness practices are able to reduce stress, increase focus and even make people more kind and compassionate.
“Our minds are totally inclined to race ahead and dwell in the past, but a lot of people would find that if we actually slow down and be in the present moment, a lot of good things will happen,” Gelles said.
“We’ve all got a responsibility to repair this broken world, to lift morale in a skeptical world that says, financial services and banking, you have overused the good will of the rest of the world,” Balkin said.
Jeremy Balkin at Davos
