paddyfeild150
"Seeking a technological food fix for world hunger may be not only the biggest scientific controversy of 1999, but also the most commercially malevolent wild goose chase of the new century"
Dr Richard Horton, Editor of The Lancet
Genetically modified (GM) products and processes are now discredited throughout Europe. It is now being claimed, however, that a new GM variety of 'golden rice' so called because of its colour, will lead to the elimination of vitamin A deficiency (VAD). The argument that GM technology will feed the world through increased yields or improved nutrition is being used by the biotechnology industry and scientific institutions to justify continued research on golden rice.
Greenpeace opposes golden rice because:
- The long term solution to vitamin A and related deficiencies
- it would increase dependence on agrochemical inputs, which worsen the overall problem of malnutrition
- golden rice is not necessary to solve the problem of vitamin A deficiency; and may well prove to be a distraction
- it has all the irreversible risks of any GM crop: biochemical instability, gene flow problems and health risks.
