Skewed GMO Articles from Mainstream Media

by Luis
(UK)

The problem with "pretty" press articles that favour corporate business (who probably advertise with BDFM Publishers too) is that they provide skewed information, in addition to being often incorrect.

The power of this information for first time readers concerning this topic is damaging, both mentally and physically.

Here is the article from Business Day Live (A South African News Paper / Website)

(1) "... global (GMO) plans to turn Africa into the world’s breadbasket."
GMO does not turn countries into breadbaskets.

(2) "... Africa, casting the continent in the role of " saviour" for a world which has to double food production by 2050"
The world already grows more food than what it needs - starving people is not because of insufficient global food supply - it's because of big business and politics.

(3) "... though they don't mind eating it"
de Villiers forgets to mention that food of GMO origin is not labelled in South Africa, nor does he mention that GMO awareness is very low in South Africa, too. Most South Africans have a perception that their food is grown without genetic modification and toxic biocides.

(4) Du Pont says "farmers can double, triple or quadruple their yields".
Cotton farmers in the Indian Cotton Belt, also known as the Suicide Belt because promised yields did not materialise. The only way for some farmers to escape the accumulated debt, is through suicide. Many of these suicides is a result of the farmer drinking the biocide itself, which was supplied by the likes of Du Pont, et al.

(5) "objections has now shifted from safety concerns to political and economic arguments".
This is not true. EU has banned GMO due to safety concerns and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. Recent studies by Seralini (and others) prove that GMO and their associated chemicals cause cancer. Many of Seralini's study methods have just been endorsed by EFSA - European Food Safety Authority (July / Aug 2013). New studies will soon emerge that will further question GMO Food safety.

(6) "With no evidence of health problems arising from GM, opponents say accepting GM crops concentrates power in seed companies that develop and market them. Spokesmen for the biggest such company, Monsanto, argue that their products improve yields while using fewer resources to produce."
This entire paragraph is untruthful.
Health problem evidence is plentiful - simply search the internet and inform yourself.
Imagine having to rely on the likes of Monsanto, Du Pont and a few others for the seed that feeds your country ... forever and with no escape clause. GMO seed engineering cannot be reversed.
They do not use fewer resources. The biocides poison the environment - water, soil, air, insects, etc. The biotech companies seem to think that the environment is a resource that we can do without?

CONCLUSION
Anybody that equates poisons with progress is misguided.
Research and inform yourself about GMO and its consequences. Avoid poorly written articles like the one mentioned in this article.
Stay healthy and free (seed control and toxic foods is not freedom)