Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Could Genetically modified food fight hunger?

Today, a total of about 842 million people in the world suffer from hunger worldwide. This means that one in every eight people on Earth goes to bed hungry each night. Now, genetically modified food seems to be a promising way for solving this huge problem. Sadly, this is not the case.

This becomes clear when looking at the world's top genetic engineering companies, such as Monsanto, which do not appear to be developing genetically modified crops that are aiming at feeding the hungry and solving the world hunger problem. If they would,those companies would be developing seeds with certain predictable characteristics, such as, for instance, seeds that were used for crops that feed people and not animals. 

Another example, which can be mentioned here, is the fact that if such companies wanted to fight or at least reverse world hunger, they would bring higher yields. However, study results of some companies producing modified soybeans show that the yields have increased instead of rising. For Monsanto, for example, the yields of genetically modified soybeans were 10 percent lower in comparison with those of conventional varieties grown under the same condition. 

According to Dr. Vandana, one of the world's foremost experts on world hunger and transgenic crops, the argument that biotechnology could help to solve the world hunger problem is great deception. The genetic modification of plants have only one major aim, namely the rising of chemical sales and of the monopoly control. All this is being done in the private domain, by corporations which are not at all in the business of charity but in the business of selling, often at extremely high prices.

Even though genetic modification is one of tomorrow's tools we dispose of today, it is a luxury that the hungry world and poor, starving people can't afford.  This is what I find the most shocking part of the complete genetic modification industry and technology!

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