Globalization

Saturday, May 5, 2007

GENETIC POLLUTION

Insects, birds, wind, and water spread seeds and pollen. By and large, that's great. But what happens when GE seeds land where they're not wanted? The result can be genetic pollution. Not long ago, researchers tested 20 different "GE-free" products. Eleven contained tiny amounts of GE ingredients, and five were loaded with them. Such contamination can also occur when seeds are mixed during storage or shipment.

Genetic pollution can mean big trouble for farmers. In Iowa, for example, seeds from GE corn sprouted in nearby fields. The invasion has destroyed some farmers' ability to market their corn as organic since U.S. organic food standards prohibit genetic engineering.

In 2002, parts of southern Africa offered a stark example of how even the fear of genetic pollution can affect people. Famine struck, and the U.S. offered to donate corn. Some nations wouldn't take it because it was GE. Leaders feared that their countries would lose the ability to sell produce to Europe, where shoppers are highly skeptical of GE produce and where many countries require it to be labeled. Temporary suffering and even death of some of their people from famine, the leaders thought, was better than losing money in trade wth Europe and risking permanent poverty.
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Thanks to technological progress, everything and everyone has become interconnected. certainly, GE food become popular all over the world. they save those people's lives from famine and help the world having enough food supply for rapid increased population.

however, it also brings all kinds of problems to us. For health, people argue that whether it should be labelled or not.I think that since GM food has not been proven to be harmful, products with GM food can be sold – provided they are properly labelled. This way, it is up to consumers to decide whether they want to buy the product or not. With labelling, at least consumers will have some degree of choice.

For environment, there is a fear that the genes from GM crops may escape into the wild and wind-up in non-GM organisms which causes
cross pollination. This could mean, for example, that the herbicide resistance in the crop could be transferred to "weeds" and create "superweeds" which would need to be controlled by even more powerful and therefore more toxic herbicides. The pesticide resistant quality of some GM food may also be transferred to non-GM plants. This may have severe consequences on the biodiversity of the area. Insects which feed on these non-GM plants will die. However other insects and birds which feed on these insects could then be wiped out.

luxi

11:59 PM