RE: BBC NEWS | Africa | Famine-hit Zambia rejects GM food aid[Scanned]

["Christoph Hofmeyr" <chofmeyr@nnr.co.za>]

Stewart, Radfsafers,

In terms of Western thinking it does seem ridiculous;  I would rather be

"poisoned" by GM food and live another day than die of hunger today.  To

get nearer the bottom of it, you need to follow the link

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/2371675.stm and read the part headed

"Concern" of the article which was not included in your quote.  Fact is,

certain African countries find a lucrative market for produce in

GM-averse Europe.  The fear of the governments is that some of the GM

corn given as food aid will be planted and that the country in question

could lose its "uncontaminated" status and lucrative future trade.

Milled corn - even of the GM variety - is much more readily accepted in

afflicted countries (maybe not Zambia), because it cannot be planted. I

assume the "poison" reference is part of the propaganda campaign to

dissuade use of delivered consignments for any purpose.  On the other

hand, some African politicians have shown that they are adept at using

terminology (e.g. "precautionary principle") that goes down well in the

more developed world, while at the same time holding their starving

masses as hostage to show that "beggars can indeed be choosers", in the

secure knowledge that they (the former) will not be the ones to pay the

ultimate price.   Another example of how developed world 'issues' can

have lethal fallout in the third world, and incidentally, provide a

story to the media.  Radiation analogy: radiophobia should not be

transplanted inappropriately.  My own musings.

Chris Hofmeyr

chofmeyr@nnr.co.za

 

-----Original Message-----

From: Stewart Farber [mailto:farbersa@optonline.net]

Sent: 29 October 2002 11:35

To: Radsafe

Subject: BBC NEWS | Africa | Famine-hit Zambia rejects GM food

aid[Scanned]





Radsafe:

For those interested in foolish applications of risk aversion and a

perverted sense of applying the 

"precautionary principle" to a fear of genetically modified foods

[similar to radiophobia among many], 

see the link below to Zambia refusing food aid to help millions of its

citizens facing starvation. As Alf 

once quipped:

"Dogma, dogma, dog manure"



Once again, politics and fear trumps science and common sense.



Stewart Farber, MS Public Health



************************************************************************

You are currently subscribed to the Radsafe mailing list. To unsubscribe,

send an e-mail to Majordomo@list.vanderbilt.edu  Put the text "unsubscribe

radsafe" (no quote marks) in the body of the e-mail, with no subject line.

You can view the Radsafe archives at http://www.vanderbilt.edu/radsafe/