A little inside debate with you Zarathustra
Basically, some GMO foods are allowed to be eaten although often not enough is known about their impact on health and agriculture. But much GMO corn is not approved for human consumption in the U.S. Millions of taco shells were recalled in the U.S. because they contained GMO corn. The problem is that when you export the corn it cross pollinates with local corn and basically the local corn strains no longer exist. This happened in Chiapas and it has created economic havoc for farmers there. Gustavo Castro
While starving desperate people need food any way they can get it--offering them GMO corn when they are trying to prevent an alteration of local agriculture (which they will depend on for future subsistence) is not done to save lives. It is done to promote GMO food usage in the third world and to make a profit for biotech companies.
Why should we assume the Africans are just dumb pawns of Europe? Can't they think for themselves? Decide what is in their long term interest? Yes, I believe they can. Time's assumption seems to be: Oh, those meddling Europeans leading the stupid Africans by the nose. As you can see, it bugs me. Third world countries are leading the fight against GMO foods. I expect they know what's up.
Maybe the leaders of third world countries should just say--"Thanks. We don't care. We'll take what we can get." They are not in a position to bargain, obviously. But I don't think we should necessarily blame them if they are reluctant to embark on an genetic, health and agricultural experiment and foist it on a desperate population.
I don't know what the ultimate answer is--I guess: Take the food, save the people for now. Deal with the consequences later. But don't you think that's a little disturbing? The U.S. press's coverage is typically condescending (at best) to Africans.
Each website has its own biases but here are the links I found in my quick browse.
GMO food info
some links about GMO foods
One reason Zimbabwe is concerned with accepting GMO foods
Basically, some GMO foods are allowed to be eaten although often not enough is known about their impact on health and agriculture. But much GMO corn is not approved for human consumption in the U.S. Millions of taco shells were recalled in the U.S. because they contained GMO corn. The problem is that when you export the corn it cross pollinates with local corn and basically the local corn strains no longer exist. This happened in Chiapas and it has created economic havoc for farmers there. Gustavo Castro
While starving desperate people need food any way they can get it--offering them GMO corn when they are trying to prevent an alteration of local agriculture (which they will depend on for future subsistence) is not done to save lives. It is done to promote GMO food usage in the third world and to make a profit for biotech companies.
Why should we assume the Africans are just dumb pawns of Europe? Can't they think for themselves? Decide what is in their long term interest? Yes, I believe they can. Time's assumption seems to be: Oh, those meddling Europeans leading the stupid Africans by the nose. As you can see, it bugs me. Third world countries are leading the fight against GMO foods. I expect they know what's up.
Maybe the leaders of third world countries should just say--"Thanks. We don't care. We'll take what we can get." They are not in a position to bargain, obviously. But I don't think we should necessarily blame them if they are reluctant to embark on an genetic, health and agricultural experiment and foist it on a desperate population.
I don't know what the ultimate answer is--I guess: Take the food, save the people for now. Deal with the consequences later. But don't you think that's a little disturbing? The U.S. press's coverage is typically condescending (at best) to Africans.
Each website has its own biases but here are the links I found in my quick browse.
GMO food info
some links about GMO foods
One reason Zimbabwe is concerned with accepting GMO foods
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home