Risk Assessment and the Precautionary Principle

Is it preferable to allow science to assess the risk of new technology or is it better to adopt the precautionary principle? In a society that exalts all forms of technology as scientific progress, the notion of questioning new methods or discoveries as actual improvements, is often depicted as heresy. One area where this friction has taken root is in agriculture. From the outset, the subject of food; while often ignored, is an essential commodity that even the most intense idealist must consume. When passionate environmentalists seek to become purists, repeatedly humans suffer. 

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