Throughout history, there have been wild swings in public perception of scientific progress. Ages of “enlightenment” and “dark ages”. We’re in yet another swing — this time from “Ooh, science! How amazing! Nothing science does could possibly be bad” to “eww, chemicals. You scientists are gonna give us all cancer and destroy the planet”.

My personal opinion — humans do not understand all of the little, interconnected, nuanced things that have evolved naturally over millions of years. We may discover some symbiotic relationship between soil bacteria and plants that mean food grown on regenerative farms is actually healthier than food grown with artificial fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides. Maybe the plants produce different components because cabbage worms are starting to eat the leaves, thus eliminating the bugs reduced the nutritional value of the food.

But I certainly don’t think we should all stop eating anything that isn’t grown in our own back yard today because mass agriculture isn’t 100% producing the same food. We’ve got to eat something. A lot of somethings. Every day. And I view formula the same way … it’s certainly good enough to sustain growth and development. Is it missing something we don’t even understand yet? Maybe! I expect the first formula formulation and what is in the store today differ as new discoveries were made. But villainizing formula is just as silly as refusing to eat anything you didn’t grow.