Genetically Modified Crops

talk
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And like i said, all of it can be done with normal, non-GM food… (but it is less profitable, and therefore not considered as an option)

Feeding starving people - im all for that… but using GM food to feed starving populations is shady, especially when GM companies are capitalizing on the fact that the starving nations dont have the luxury to care about whether or not the food they are given is GM or organic (beggers cant be choosers). They just want to eat… GM producers know this, and so they continue to push their designer crops, which would otherwise be a hardsell to well-fed and well-informed populations…

Hey, that article you shared the link to is really good… I agree with the president of zambia when he says, “There’s no justification for feeding people ‘poison’.”

it also goes on to say this:

Many Southern African nations have expressed deep concerns that GM food aid could be used to grow new crops and so enter the local food chain.

This could jeopardise exports to Europe, where GM food is less common than in the United States.

Several countries affected by the crisis have refused to accept unmilled GM maize but have agreed to accept ground meal.

US officials deny that there is any risk[COLOR=DarkRed]*[/COLOR] involved with GM food and point out that it is eaten every day by millions of Americans.

[COLOR=DarkRed]*mindfully.org note:
Since US officials deny there’s a risk, it means there is a risk.
It’s only logical, considering the record of such people in our regulatory agencies. It is abundantly clear that they represent the GM food industry of the US, not the people of the US. And it seems to us that the president of Zambia is a very wise man to refuse the trash that is fed to the people of the US by the transnational agribusiness.
What isn’t so clear is why the people of the US continue to eat it without reservation. They continue to follow like sheep going to slaughter.[/COLOR]

I do agree with you though, on this point. “finding non-GM food aid would be very difficult and time-consuming.”

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And like i said, all of it can be done with normal, non-GM food

World Food Programme Spokesman Richard Lee told the BBC that it would now be very difficult to meet the needs of the Zambian people.

He said his organisation was already only able to feed half of the people in need, and would have to work hard to find non-GM food

Apperanlty it cant, if with even GM they can feed only half, where in the world will the find this in organic form?

Feeding starving people - im all for that… but using GM food to feed starving populations is shady, especially when GM companies are capitalizing on the fact that the starving nations dont have the luxury to care about whether or not the food they are given is GM or organic (beggers cant be choosers).

I agree and disagree, yes, GM can be shady, I agree we don’t know everything on them, but when we face a life and death situation we have no choice. Are GM more profitable, probobly, but that is because they have larger yeilds and grow in harsher climates. But remeber, when its cheaper you can feed more people with less.

But its more than that, its also an issue of access and to the UN and WFP its alot easier to access GM food, just because they can do all of the above, gathering organic and natural food is time consuming, expenisive and in the time we look, people die, we dont have the luxury of time.

But the sientists are NOT developing Bombs, they are not developing weapons, they are not developing a new penis enlarging pills, they are developing an easier way to feed people, and I cannot beleive people will be against that.

starving nations dont have the luxury to care about whether or not the food they are given is GM or organic (beggers cant be choosers)

They can when people with full stomachs are making dicisions for them…

Zambia to reject American corn because of genetic
alteration.

…people dying of hunger and from eating poisonous wild roots…

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But the sientists are NOT developing Bombs, they are not developing weapons, they are not developing a new penis enlarging pills, they are developing an easier way to feed people, and I cannot beleive people will be against that.

When you look at it that way, its easy to be a champion for the pushing of GM foods on starving nations, but unfortunately, the arguement is more complicated than just that. Understand that there are alterior motives behind the GM food thing. Like i said, if feeding the worlds hunger was the main goal, it could be achieved (although difficult, time-consuming, and expensive), and would have been achieved long ago.

Im sure the President of Zambia was reluctant to make the decision that he made, but im sure he made that decision with the best interests of his country in mind. Now, if its better for people to starve, than it is to accept GM food donations, there must be something seriously wrong with accepting GM crops, wouldn’t you think??

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When you look at it that way, its easy to be a champion for the pushing of GM foods on starving nations, but unfortunately, the arguement is more complicated than just that. Understand that there are alterior motives behind the GM food thing. Like i said, if feeding the worlds hunger was the main goal, it could be achieved (although difficult, time-consuming, and expensive), and would have been achieved long ago.
While it may be possible, we are specialting, and its easy to speculate from our prespective, but not when you and you’re family is dying of hunger. There may be some, but we have no proof.

Now are we going to rely on wild speculation with little or no proof, and use that from feeding starving populations?

When you look at it that way, its easy to be a champion for the pushing of GM foods on starving nations,
Tell me this man is not a champion Norman Bolaugh

Im sure the President of Zambia was reluctant to make the decision that he made, but im sure he made that decision with the best interests of his country in mind. Now, if its better for people to starve, than it is to accept GM food donations, there must be something seriously wrong with accepting GM crops, wouldn’t you think??
I strongly disagree, how is it in best intrest to have his people starve, but more than that… why is he arresting people who are saying people are dying from hunger?

Last week, Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa dismissed reports of starvation and ordered police to arrest members of parliament from the Southern Province who claimed that people in their constituencies were dying of hunger
We have to consider, what do the rulers of the countries that starve their populations have to gain aswel…

Because there is no excuse

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I strongly disagree, how is it in best intrest to have his people starve, but more than that… why is he arresting people who are saying people are dying from hunger?

Quote:
**Last week, Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa dismissed reports of starvation and ordered police to arrest members of parliament from the Southern Province who claimed that people in their constituencies were dying of hunger **

We have to consider, what do the rulers of the countries that starve their populations have to gain as well…

Those are some good points. I missed that part about him arresting parliament members… You’ve done a good job of presenting the flip-side of the coin… I still am against GM crops, but i would like to read some more about the situation in Zambia…

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Yeah you too, I completle understand your concerns and I dont completly disagree, but you understand my position, why I am all for GM.

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http://www.connectotel.com/gmfood/gmafrica.html - GM Food Aid and Africa…

http://www.connectotel.com/gmfood/co160704.txt - Here is the most recent press statement on that site… Again, this is one side of the story, but more often than not, i find myself siding with the side that is usually pitted up against some sort of Giant Corporate/Government interest…

Zambia’s GM food fear traced to UK

see, its the Brits’ fault… haha

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Cmon those two sources cant be any more biased, but still if you look that “wont solve hunger” link, and there is not a single shred of evidence to back up their findings, nothing more that speculation. Again, wont it be nice if we inform of the starving people what they are offered, and give them a chance to refuse? Beats eating poisenous roots…

And because of the British reps, who want a cut, now people are dying.

Read this interview with the man who started the green revolution, very informative.

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I agree! People will always find something to whine and complain about, but if whatever policy helps save people from dying, I’m all for it. The Green Revolution is a great example of technology solving people’s problems.

About insects developing immunity to the new crops, yes, that is a problem. But, making crops more likely to grow in a drought-prone area seems like a good idea. I don’t think the traditional method of killing insects is any better. While in many western farms, you aren’t allowed to use insecticides such as DDT, I know that many places in India use that as their only source of insecticide. A lot of the stuff from there does make its way to stores probably where you all live.

I am more worried about the actual chemical-based insecticide that is used in the food that I eat rather than what could be contained inside the genes of the plants.

The benefits of GMO are extremely good. You are now able to cultivate more crops using less land. That isn’t a problem in a country such as the US where you have a lot of low-cost land. In other countries where land is very valuable, being able to better use the land is very important.

:cons: