GMO's and feeding the hungry...

'afternoon all.
I was involved in a discussion on another site which was discussing GMO's. This site had nothing to do with conspiracies, food or science so of course the commonly stated "benefit" of GMO crops was "it will help feed the world"

Personally, I don't believe that claim so I simply Googled "What starving countries are receiving GMO crops" and what I saw in the results wasn't surprising.

Rather than a list of countries that are starving or on the verge, I saw article after article after story after headline stating something akin to "Researchers State that GM Crops Will Help End World Hunger" or something similar. Not only current articles but ones going back to 2002 that I saw.

So this got me thinking....Is this claim simply the "pitch" used to sell this technology to the masses and if so, why exactly?

I'm not intentionally asking a baited question here. I sincerely want to know everyone's thoughts.

a reply to: TXRabbit
What countries food supply is 80% gmo?

Hint, its not one of those countries thats full of starving people!

I remember that's what they told us in school, that GMO's would help feed the world.
Bigger, better, more nutritious they said!

Well we actually got plant's that are protected from the herbicides and pesticides that the same company distributes, those chemicals, like glysophate, are giving us too many side effects to even count.

Seedless watermelons is the most usefull thing I saw comming from GMO's and they don't even taste good anymore!!

People that have power and money that want to have more power and more money, that's what happened.

a reply to: VoidHawk

Where do you get 80% from?

originally posted by: TXRabbitPersonally, I don't believe that claim so I simply Googled "What starving countries are receiving GMO crops" and what I saw in the results wasn't surprising.

Rather than a list of countries that are starving or on the verge, I saw article after article after story after headline stating something akin to "Researchers State that GM Crops Will Help End World Hunger" or something similar. Not only current articles but ones going back to 2002 that I saw.

It's actually a little more complex than that. The way I understand the situation is thus. African countries want to be able to export crops to Europe if the export market happens to be more lucrative than the local market. The EU is violently opposed to GMO products to the point that exporting GMO products to them is basically impossible. Hence, it's always more profitable for African farmers to grow non-GMOs if there's any chance of export to Europe. This is even the case if GMO crops would give higher yields with less environmental damage, as is usually the case.

I've heard it said that Europe's anti-GMO legislation is effectively a crime against humanity since it directly encourages African farmers to use less efficient crops. I don't know if I agree with this exactly, but I don't think GMOs are ever bad unless they're attached to Monsanto. The science is just an extension of things we've been doing for centuries, and except when the plants are being produced by evil monopolistic assholes like Monsanto, I don't see how it could hurt people. I'm not a scientist, though.

a reply to: theMediator

You are right that was the motto for the big GMO companies to take hold of the food chain without making the rest of the none hungry populations afraid,

We are coming a long way, feed the hungry by butt, but heck the GMO machine got what they wanted, to contaminate with their poison anything in nature.

a reply to: TXRabbit

There is a documentary titled (GMO OMG) the director of it is Jeremy Seifert...he made it for his children and to share with (we the people).

I suggest people check it out at their local Library and watch it...there is a part in the DVD where he travels to a poor country and the people there reject the GMO crops.

It's a myth parotted in the mainstream.

One source of many:

5. We need GMO seed to feed the world. FALSE.

Consider this statement from 24 delegates from 18 African countries who addressed the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization:

“We strongly object that the image of the poor and hungry from our countries is being used by giant multinational corporations to push a technology that is neither safe, environmentally friendly nor economically beneficial to us. We do not believe that such companies or gene technologies will help our farmers to produce the food that is needed in the 21st century. On the contrary, we think it will destroy the diversity, the local knowledge and the sustainable agricultural systems that our farmers have developed for millennia, and that it will thus undermine our capacity to feed ourselves.”

Also consider one March, 2012 report by Anthony Gucciardi that reveals over 900 scientists working under the United Nations were forced to admit that traditional farming actually outperformed GMO crops following their research.

Source


Looks like even ScientificAmerica which is MSM says they cannot:

Proponents argue that GM crops can help feed the world. And given ever increasing demands for food, animal feed, fiber and now even biofuels, the world needs all the help it can get.


Unfortunately, it looks like GM corn and soybeans won't help, after all.

A study from the Union of Concerned Scientists shows that genetically engineered crops do not produce larger harvests.

continued...

But it appears that, to date, traditional plant breeding boosts crop yields better than genetic modification. Those old farmers were on to something. —David Biello Share this Article: Comments

Source

It's also said that stopping greed, stopping food waste-by even 15%-can help feed the world.