Originally posted by ivanhoeIn history Capitalism never helped.I am wary of their motives.
Gene revolution 'could help poor'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3711507.stm
Do you believe GM crops can help solve the problem of malnutricion and hunger in the world ?
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Originally posted by ivanhoeSceptical. GM is about making profits for the big biotechnology companies - which is legitimate for them. They are facing high resistance from affluent consumers and they need a bit of positive spin. However, the products they are pushing are not designed for poor people - poor farners spend far less on seed than rich farmers.
Gene revolution 'could help poor'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3711507.stm
Do you believe GM crops can help solve the problem of malnutricion and hunger in the world ?
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Problem for poor farmers is they will not be able to save seed - the GM seeds belong to the companies and must be purchased every season. The crops themselves will not be suited for local conditions as the development centres will be few and far between. GM also contaminates crops around it, causing patent problems for everyone. Not too mention more discerning consumers are rejecting GM - making exporting harder.
Reminds me a a little of Union Carbide, producing insecticides in India. Best of intentions, was going to lift yield and feed the hungry. A side result was to give India the Bhopal disaster.
Originally posted by ivanhoePossibly, but they're unlikely to make much difference in the short run. Poor farmers don't have enough money to make it worth the biotech companies' while to sell just to them. It all depends on whether it's economically viable or not to sell at a price the farmers can afford. However, since the cost to Monsanto & co is mainly in R&D, if they can find a big enough market in, say, North America for a particular product then they're likely to try to export it all over the world; they'll have to be more accommodating of third world farmers otherwise they aren't going to get any money out of them.
Gene revolution 'could help poor'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3711507.stm
Do you believe GM crops can help solve the problem of malnutricion and hunger in the world ?
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Also, when the patents on the current batch of GM crops expire, they'll be much more readily available. At that point we might see them starting to make a difference.
Steerpike made good points. Also, it should be noted that so much food is already wasted. It's not an issue of "can we produce enough food", but an issue of people wanting to give or sell the food to the poor of poor countries, although I have heard that the US's grain reserves have been going down as of late. It' worthwhile to mention how much food is wasted through the inefficiency of animal agriculture. Many times more food (and other resources) goes in than comes out.
I don't think that GM will help poor farmers, because many probably can't afford the seeds, and if they can, they become dependent on chemical corporations for the seeds and the pesticides (which also have their own obvious detriments), as most GM crops are made to be pesticide-resistant (for example, Monsanto's "Round-up Ready"😉. I have heard of poor farmers being driven into debt because of the expenses of GM crops.
An opinion from the Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,965198,00.html
Another article:
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/0528-05.htm
An article with evidence opposing the above from newscientist: http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99993364
Monsanto have been around for quite a while. It would seem to me that the "consumer opposition" in the developing world alluded to in the bbc article has pushed them to attempt to target on the developing world instead. I would favour fairer trade as a means to tackle malnutrition and hunger in the world.
Now I'm off to read Dissident Dan's articles...
Originally posted by Dissident DanDissident Dan: "Also, it should be noted that so much food is already wasted. It's not an issue of "can we produce enough food", but an issue of people wanting to give or sell the food to the poor of poor countries, .... "
Steerpike made good points. Also, it should be noted that so much food is already wasted. It's not an issue of "can we produce enough food", but an issue of people wanting to give or sell the food to the poor of poor countries, although I have heard that the US's grain reserves have been going down as of late. It' worthwhile to mention how much fo ...[text shortened]... ce opposing the above from newscientist: http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99993364
Excellent remark. We must make it possible for people, in order to reduce hunger and poverty, to be ABLE TO BUY the food they need, as long as this is not the case poverty will remain to be a cruel reality. Introducing GM foods will not change a thing in the "proliferation" of food. The rich will be able to buy it, the poor masses in third world countries will starve the same way as they did before.
The world as it is produces enough food for everyone, the problem lies in distribution. The poor have no income. They are not able to buy it. The rich buy too much food and a lot is being wasted.
The same flawed story was told when they introduced synthetic or artificial fertiliser. "This will solve the problem of hunger in the world.", they claimed. The logical reasoning behind this thought was the same as the reasoning behind the introduction of GM foods. "Introducing artificial fertiliser will increase production and as a result of that hunger will be an evil of the past ... "
Being able to reason logically doesn't imply that you are right. Reality is often more complex than we are able to grasp with our intellectual tools.
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People have been trying to alleviate hunger for probably thousands of years. I bet the first farmers thought they would be able to produce enough food to feed their tribe forever, without having to worry about the fortunes of the hunt.
However, an increase in the food supply leads to an increase in the population. I'm not saying that this is inevitable, just that this has been the case for thousands of years of human history. It is theoretically possible that we will be able to stabilize the world's population and ensure that every person has enough to eat, but as has been pointed out already, increasing production is not enough in and of itself.
So many people slag off GM technology because of the nasty companies employing it. But the question wasn't whether Monsanto could come to the rescue, but whether GM food could full stop. The answer has to be yes - provided we reclaim the technology from the bad guys.
Someone asked when has capitalism ever helped the poor, but really the question should have been, when has biological technology ever helped the poor? And the answer would be lots of times, through vaccination, antibiotics etc. Tends to help the rich first, admittedly...
Rich.
Originally posted by bestmateWhat a croc! In history, only capitalism has accomplished anything. All progress to date is allowed to it. Name a single contribution to civilization that is not directly an offshoot of capitalism? Think hard. Can you name a single advance that is not spurred on by the desire for wealth, dominance or fame? ie, Capitalism? ie, Greed?
In history Capitalism never helped.I am wary of their motives.
The only result you will get is "Communism" and several hundred MILLION dead souls for the effort of implementing the same. Then you have to ask if those "implementing" communism are not the greedyest people on earth. Every one of them becomes a tyrant and a dictator. With no exceptions.
Study history. Better yet, grow a brain stem and work your way up to partial consciousness.
Originally posted by ivanhoeYes it could. But the world needs to overcome much superstition and ignorance first. We'll see.
Gene revolution 'could help poor'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3711507.stm
Do you believe GM crops can help solve the problem of malnutricion and hunger in the world ?
.
Sisters of Providence ministry gets grant for organic farm project.
The goal is to help farmers, who want to switch to organic farming, but who have soil that is left barren of nutrients after years of using chemicals to retard the growth of weeds in their crops.
http://www.catholic.org/cathcom/national_story.php?id=7931
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