14-year-old Debates GMOs with Condescending TV Host

A Canadian television host’s attempts to school a 14-year-old girl did not quite go according to plan.

Kevin O’Leary, the co-host of the popular CBC business news program “The Lang and O’Leary Exchange,” must have thought he had laid the perfect trap for teen anti-GMO activist Rachel Parent.

The problem for O’Leary is that Parent, the founder of the pro-GMO labeling group Kids Right to Know, proved to be no pushover.

After a spirited debate on whether Canadian and US governments should rely on health studies conducted by genetically modified seed makers such as Monsanto, and the question of whether possible health benefits of GMO crops outweighed environmental concerns, O’Leary seemed to concede that the marketplace trend was heading toward transparency.

Throughout last week's interview, an incredulous O’Leary pressed his contention that Parent had been co-opted by anti-GMO groups, rather than having arrived at her conclusions independently.

The clip of the debate between Parent and O’Leary quickly went viral, and has been viewed on YouTube more than 300,000 times.