Genetically engineered (GE) crops and foods have become increasingly present in farmers’ fields and consumer shopping carts.  As recently as 1994, the first genetically engineered plants were grown for commercial use in the United States under USDA supervision. By 1996, 6 million acres of genetically engineered plants were grown in the United States, which increased sharply to 58 million acres by 1998, accompanied by approximately 70 million acres worldwide.

Because of the rapidity with which this technology is being applied and has entered the marketplace, New York State extension educators will likely receive an increasing number of requests for information and help with decision-making related to GE foods. Nutrition and agriculture educators alike have identified a need for the development of effective programmatic responses to GE food and crop issues at the local level within the Cornell Cooperative Extension system. The primary goal of this project is to develop materials for effective public issues education (PIE) capacity related to genetically engineered organisms among CCE agricultural and nutrition educators. It is our hope that our materials will prove useful to both educators and consumers alike.

On This Page:

Our philosophy-- public issues education
Who we are
Cookies and our privacy policy

Public issues education is an educational strategy that seeks to shed light on a subject of particular concern to the public, in order to help citizens make well-informed decisions. All too often, the term "education" is applied to programs that are, in reality, persuasion and advocacy. Not so, here. The GEO-PIE Project makes a deliberate attempt to provide useful information about genetic engineering in a balanced and objective manner, and lets the reader decide. The Project is an in-depth discussion of relevant scientific research, the areas of uncertainty, and the associated interpretations of the research. Further, because this is a public issue, we will also explore not just the scientific issues, but many of the social and ethical issues surrounding genetic engineering.

This also means, however, that readers are not likely to find easy answers on this site. Despite the claims of advocates and activists alike, the realities of genetic engineering are often much more complex than simple yes-or-no, all-or-none formulas. Our educational goal is that our readers will gain a deeper understanding of the complexities of the subject, carefully weigh the risks, benefits, and uncertainties, and become better able to participate in informed discussion.

As the public land grant institution of New York, Cornell University, through its Cooperative Extension Program, responds to the needs of the citizens of the state. Because genetic engineering has become a topic of growing public interest and concern, Cornell supports public education with credible, balanced information. The Cornell community, like the public at large, encompasses a great diversity of opinions and interpretations on the subject of genetic engineering. Our challenge is to provide a format in which many perspectives may be respectfully heard and thoughtfully explored.
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Who We Are

Director

Bruce Lewenstein, Ph.D.
Professor
Department of Communication
Kennedy Hall
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853
(607) 255-8310 b.lewenstein@cornell.edu

Advisory Committee

Margaret Smith Einarson	Associate Professor, Plant Breeding
Steve Kresovich	Professor, Plant Breeding Director, Insitute for Genomic Diversity
David Pelletier	Associate Professor, Division of Nutritional Sciences

Project Collaborators

Christina Stark	Extension Associate, Division of Nutritional Sciences
Ed Staehr	NY FarmNet and NY FarmLink Programs
Jim Grace	CCE Steuben County

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Cookies and our privacy policy

The GEO-PIE Project website uses a common internet technology called "cookies." The first time you visit our site, you are assigned an anonymous, random 13-digit ID number stored on your computer (the "cookie") which helps us collect data on the website use patterns of our readers. We analyze this usage data only in an aggregate fashion in order to make our website better fit the needs of our readers, and do not collect any information which can be used to identify you as an individual. If you have disabled cookies in your browser, some features on the GEO-PIE website may not function correctly.

On some occasions, we may conduct online surveys which ask our readers to provide some information about their interests, reading habits, opinions, etc. All responses are strictly anonymous, and are used by researchers only in an aggregate fashion. We do not share or sell any information gathered from the GEO-PIE website to any third party.
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