With the recent anti-science escapades of Gwyneth Paltrow, Jim Carey, Jessica Alba et al. it would be easy to believe that all of Hollyweird was on the take from Joe Mercola, Dr. Oz and the other Four Horsemen of the Alternative. However, one celebrity--check that, one MAJOR celebrity--has emerged as Southern California's champion of science: Bradley Cooper.
Cooper, you may remember, starred in the movie Limitless a few years ago, a science-fiction flick with a plot based on the (pseudoscience) belief that humans only use 10 percent of their brain. The crux of the movie was that Cooper's character was given a pill that allowed him to unlock the other 90 percent of his brain. Now there is a CBS television show based on the movie and Cooper has appeared in some episodes to boost viewership.
In this week's episode, Cooper has this dialogue with the main character:
Credit: We Love GMOs and Vaccines via Facebook
Cooper's character, a US Senator, is obviously advocating for Golden Rice, which boosts Vitamin A by fortifying food. But why is he keeping it a secret? Maybe because anti-GMO activists have been sabotaging fields growing Golden Rice and scientists and advocates who have supported GMOs have been smeared by journalists and NGOs that work in synchronicity.
The screenwriters for the episode nail the spirit of the problem we have in food science acceptance. The world has to be willing to change for science to affect change. History is littered with examples of societies that have failed because they are unwilling to embrace reality and accept an evidence-based solution.
Unfortunately, the world has become so interconnected that groups like U.S. Right To Know, Greenpeace, and Natural Resources Defense Council are making the decision for poor people actually being harmed by the lack of Golden Rice.
