Iowa State students will be paid to eat GMO bananas

At the Beef is Beef rally a few years ago at Ames the students were advocating for Big Ag and demonstrating how to consume Pink Slime burgers! MC

Iowa State students will be paid to eat GMO bananas

By Ryan Newton Published: February 19, 2016, 10:36 am Updated: February 19, 2016, 10:38 am

AMES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa State University researchers are moving ahead with a plan to pay students to eat genetically modified bananas.

The project has been delayed for a while. The Des Moines Register reports the bananas were created by an Australian scientist and have a gene that is supposed to help people living in Africa make Vitamin A.

The student participants will be paid $900 each.

The trial has been criticized because natural-food proponents say genetically modified foods can be dangerous. Backers of the experiment say the gene came from a different type of banana and is safe to eat.

Earlier this week, activists delivered petitions calling on the project’s halt to university officials and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which is funding the project. The activists said more than 57,000 people signed the petition.