Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Frankenstein food is good for you

Genetically modified (GM) crops are the answer to much of the world hunger problem. According to Paul Driessen quoting Norman Bourlag, the only way to feed the world’s population is through chemical fertilizers and genetically modified crops.

"If we only use organic fertilisers and natural methods on arable land, we can only feed four billion people," Driessen's editorial quotes Borlaug as saying.

This is too important an issue to be left in the hands of anti-progress environmentalist groups. Crops and livestock have been genetically engineered for millennia. Prior to the use of modern genetic techniques modification was accomplished by selective breeding. Positive characteristics were selected and plants and animals carrying those characteristics were bred, while inferior specimens were culled.

The modern GM crops are simply modified using a different methodology. This speeds up the process and is more precise than selective breeding. It is also less, not more, likely to create an undesirable mutation. It is hard for me to fathom the fear of GM foods unless it is the fear of disastrous mutation.

The EU needs to wake up and allow their farmers to help in feeding the world. U.S. farm policy is awful, but it looks like high intelligence compared to EU policies. EU farmers should be allowed to grow GM crops.

End of rant.

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