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U-Know! Forum » gm foods |
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lordsitar 257 posts |
Jul 27, 2004, 01:54
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i think gm foods are a good thing. been listening to some arguments both ways on the subject and i cant think why there seems to be so much hostility to something which may help illiminate world hunger. unless you personaly know what tree bark soup tastes like i dont think you should comment feed kids
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lordsitar 257 posts |
Jul 27, 2004, 02:02
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http://www.connectotel.com/gmfood/ne210604.txt justify this shit
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lordsitar 257 posts |
Jul 27, 2004, 02:09
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has anyone done any long term studys into the effects of starving to death on children. because 20% of kids die in zambia before they are 5 years old.there children die and they are rejecting food because WE in the west are so vocal about what may or may not be the case with gm foods.what is wrong with the west???? http://www.worldmessageday.org/child-starvation-facts.html
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MonkeyBoy 1008 posts |
Jul 27, 2004, 10:03
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You do have a point and I have to say I am not vehemently opposed to GM, particularly as it is a secondary issue. The problem I have with your arguement is that the world could be fed as farmers in the west are subsidised to leave fields uncultivated, to produce less and even sometimes to destroy yield. Drawing attention to this as well as campaigning for better supplies of agricultural technology and techniques to the third world would a better use of time. Also stability would have to be in place in a lot of third world countries so they can get on with the important work of feeding themselves instead of privatising utilities to get loans from the world bank and having to carry out all kinds of neo-liberal policies to get money from the west.
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anthonyqkiernan 7087 posts |
Jul 27, 2004, 10:16
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GM science is benevolent (much like splitting the atom). It's the way in which man is using it that is so objectionable. To suggest that the technology would ever be used to eliminate world hunger is just plain naive. GM corps may develop seed that can grow in the most extreme of environments. They also take out the reproduction elements. Meaning that instead of a farmer having something that he can begin to cultivate poor land with, he has a crop that he must make enough money from to buy more seed the next year. Those that need it the most will not be able to afford it. The hostility to GM crops on these shores is for many reasons. Once they are grown here and begin to cross fertilise existing plants there is no going back. Remember that feeding cattle minced up other cattle's spinal chords seemed like an easy way to a cheap and bountiful supply of food at one point.
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Riddley Walker 174 posts |
Jul 27, 2004, 10:47
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I heard an interesting report on the radio some time ago about the trade in 'Pirated' Gm seeds in India. Apparently some inventive farmers have managed to use cross-fertilisation to produce non-sterile varieties of the crops modified for higher-yields etc. They are selling these new varieties which, as they can be replanted, are in high demand. The companies who originally developed them are trying to stamp it out, but its going to be next to impossible from the sounds of things. An interesting twist, once the technology is out there, perhaps it can be appropriated and used in a fair way.
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anthonyqkiernan 7087 posts |
Jul 27, 2004, 11:15
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Heh-heh. I like that. It's a bit like the BPI and RIAA. "We've got this great new digital format, we can sell everyuone their record collection back...oh, bugger..."
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Merrick 2148 posts |
Jul 27, 2004, 12:13
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Donor countries - including the US - had plenty of non-GM food spare and could have given that instead. Knowing the Zambian government's opposition to GM, why else did the US donate GM? The US deliberately gave Zambia GM precisely in order to force GM into Africa, which has been highly reluctant to take it so far. It was an unbelievably crass and cynical ploy on the part of the US. As a joint statement from 24 African countires said to the UN Food And Agricultural Organisation, "We strongly object that the image of the poor and hungry from our countries is being used by giant multinational corporations to push a technology that is neither safe, environmentally friendly, nor economically beneficial to us. We do not believe that such companies or gene technologies will help our farmers to produce the food that is needed in the 21st century. On the contrary, we think it will destroy diversity, the local knowledge and the sustainable agricultural systems that our farmers have developed for millennia and that it will thus undermine our capacity to feed ourselves."
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Merrick 2148 posts |
Jul 27, 2004, 12:20
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The argument about it being 'western GM scares keeping the starving hungry' is very potent. It is also a complete lie. Arable land in poorer countries has been ruined by monoculture cash crops (usually to supply the west). Chemical farming is simply not as productive per acre as small-scale organic methods (it's just that those methods take more time and effort). Chemical farming not only ruins soil quality, but the raw materials for the chemicals are largely oil and gas. When these become scrace and very expensive - as will happen well within our lifetimes - it will be the poor farmers who will suffer first. If we want people to be able to feed themselves in an ongoing way then we need to promote sustainable methods; methods the farmers can afford, methods that do not ruin the topsoil for future genrations. This means weaning off chemical farming, rather than promoting its saturation with GM, and replacing it with small-scale organic methods. ============== For more on Why GM Won;t Feed The World, see; http://www.headheritage.co.uk/uknow/features/index.php?id=17
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lordsitar 257 posts |
Jul 27, 2004, 15:55
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if kids are dying and we have food to feed them give them the food does it matter that the food has been gm modified if kids are starving, i think not .ask the kids parents if they want the food
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