Gentlemen, thank you so much for attending. I'm sorry you were delayed in your presentations.
I just got back from the FAO summit in Rome last week. We all know there are a billion starving and undernourished people in the world. We know our population is going to grow by another three billion by 2050, and we're going to have to increase food production by 70%. Frankly, in my mind, we need to deploy every strategy possible to do that in a meaningful way.
The problem with GMOs, of course, as you've noted, is that the public thinks there's a problem with them. And perception is reality. I've heard you say that transparency, research, traceability, and labelling are all things that will lead to a greater acceptance of GMOs, but I still sit and wonder if there's a problem with them. Is there a problem with GMOs? We know some countries are trying to resist the importation, etc. Yet I'm told that in Canada almost everything we eat has something GMO in it, right?
My question is this. After 10 years of transgenic varieties of canola, soya, and corn, do we now have reliable public data on the advantages and disadvantages of those GMOs from an environmental, agronomic, economic, and health perspective? You might debate this between you, if anyone has a differing opinion, which is fine with me.
Mr. Yada, can I ask you that first?