Told you so... (*)
iht.com
Excerpt:
Dr. C.S. Prakash, an Indian-born scientist whose research has increased the nutritional value of the sweet potato fourfold, told the conference that half of sub-Saharan Africans are malnourished today, a figure that is expected to increase to 70 percent by 2010. He said that world population growth has reduced the amount of arable land, making greater agricultural productivity a necessity: "We must produce more food with less land, less water and less chemicals."
Biotechnology can do this.
The best assessment of biotechnology's potential came from farmers themselves. Sabina Khoza, a South African maize farmer, and Edwin Paraluman, a corn farmer in the Philippines, told us that their yields and incomes are up, and their use of harmful pesticides is down.
Unfortunately, the ability of farmers such as Khoza and Paraluman to take advantage of this new tool has been severely restricted in many countries by widespread resistance based upon misinformation about biotechnology safety - misinformation sown by ideologically motivated groups and nurtured by EU trade protectionists [aka agroLuddites].
These critics continue to claim that biotech foods are unsafe despite the fact that millions of Americans, Canadians, Australians, Argentines and other people have been eating genetically modified food for nearly a decade - without one proven case of an illness, allergic reaction or even the hiccups.
Activists even convinced African governments facing drought-induced famine in late 2002 to return tons of World Food Program corn because it was produced in America using biotechnology. Better to die than eat the food that Americans eat every day.
For those who question the morality of biotechnology, suggesting that it is unnatural, the scientists pointed out that mankind has been genetically altering food throughout human history. In fact, almost none of the foods we consider "natural" today exist in nature; all have been genetically modified for human use.
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