Paper short abstract:

Paper discusses different understandings of terms „natural”, „traditional” and „artificial” in the context of transgenic crops being introduced to Polish agriculture, as a result of implementation of EU policies. It’s based on an ethnographic study of media debate and public discourse on GMOs.

Paper long abstract:

In Poland, consciousness in food choices became lately a matter of fashion or else, a moral obligation - whether it is choosing a fair trade coffee or organic vegetables, whether it is a membership in food cooperative or everyday "food patriotism", expressed in choosing the regional or national products over the imported ones. This sensitive issue gained a new dimension few years ago - when government was deliberating over a new law settling a use of transgenic crops approved by European Union. It was summer 2012, when a fierce debate over this so-called Seed Act broke in Polish media, engaging different agents. For some GMOs were just another achievement of agricultural sciences which would improve the quality of food products. Others however were identifying genetically engineered plants as unnatural and dangerous to public health, national economy and biodiversity in Poland. After months-lasting discussion, the Seed Act was introduced in January 2013. Though the cultivation of GM crops was banned, they can still be imported for an animal fodder. Why have GMOs sparked such a deep controversy in Poland? What does naturalness mean in today's agriculture and why some consider traditional crops to be better? How does one's identity influence his/her opinion on food production? Who has an authority to decide what we eat? For these and other questions I will try to answer by referring to my field research in 2012-2013, during which I interviewed participants of the debate, and an analysis of pro and anti-GMO media discourses.