Drafts by Paige E Dedrick
This essay uses a modified version of the Social-Ecological Systems framework to elucidate and in... more This essay uses a modified version of the Social-Ecological Systems framework to elucidate and interpret the complex political, ecological and social systems that comprise the use of genetic engineering in food production in the United States. Building from an understanding that actor support and participation is critical to the success of any system of resource governance, the essay first performs an analysis of the action situation of GE plants and foods, using California Proposition 37 as a case study. Then, the essay assesses the results of an exploratory questionnaire distributed to actor-consumers in Northfield, MN and East Aurora, NY, to determine how actor-consumers in the United States form their opinions of, and act toward, GEOs. The work evaluates how carefully the governance structures and discourse around GE crops and foods reflect actor-consumer attitudes and knowledge. Although public discourse preceding the vote on mandatory labeling initiatives like Proposition 37 can be polarized, this analysis finds that actor-consumer opinions on GEOs in the U.S. are moderate, and that they differ with demographic changes in gender, scientific knowledge, perceived information, trust in the federal government and religiosity. The analysis finds that actor-consumer views and knowledge are inadequately integrated into GE governance, even in action situations where actor-consumers are given the democratic opportunity to vote on specific governance protocols. The essay concludes that the failure to integrate actor-consumer understanding originates in a definition and boundary problem that obstructs the efficacy of local knowledge in the system.
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Drafts by Paige E Dedrick