Recently, Brian Tokar, who directs the Biotechnology Project at the Institute for Social Ecology in Plainfield, visited my state to preach about the evils of biotechnology. I thought I might "visit" his state via your editorial pages to respond to some of the charges Tokar levied against agricultural biotechnology in his effort to cause mischief in Maine.
I give Tokar credit. He is an excellent speaker. He knows his subject and he tells his story well. The problem, though, is his story is full of rural myths and rests on a foundation of conspiracy theories. Rural myths, like their urban cousins, are one percent fact and 99 percent fiction. Conspiracy theories are … well, conspiracy theories.