Had been hearing of BT brinjal and GM food since long but never though it could be this big a deal. Came across the above-mentioned website some days back and was shell-shocked. We could be eating vegetables which have genes from bacteria or other animals/fishes etc.I learn this and I get enraged feeling like an ignorant rat used for experimentation.
First, I should know what I am eating and paying for. What follows next is my own choice. The companies in developing nations take advantage of the customer's ignorance, illiteracy and trust to feed them with everything that their American and European counterparts refuse to. Probably they think the Indian or African population and govts. have too much on their mind already (Thanks to unending scams, economy problems and autocratic rulers) than worry if their strawberries have a gene of fish inside, or their brinjal has a bacteria embedded which is not even confirmed to be safe in the long run.We are not guinea pigs. The entire civilization could here be subjected to problems, physical and mental, the money-crazy industrialist and scientists don't even care about. I am not an expert on the subject but from what I could search and read, I can conclude for sure that both the pros and cons of GM (genetic modification) food are not explored and exposed completely. It could be a bane or a boon. On surface, the earlier seems more plausible for me. A series of products which could completely change the way we grow and eat our food deserves much more research and safety measures.
WE NEED TO KNOW WHAT WE ARE GROWING ON.
One question which comes to my mind every time I come across such issues it "What can I do?"
We can sure do something. For starters, make ourselves and others educated. Read about it, teach about it. Visit the link I mentioned and sign up for the campaign which can actually force companies to divulge the details.
Sign up campaigns and the united voice of citizens and netizens have bore fruits in the past as well. The most recent being the Anna Hazare campaign or Jessica Lal case. The only point I am making here is that
" There exists a way to make yourself count in whatever capacity you are."
Dont sit and crib saying you don't have time, energy, power or means to make yourself heard. Support what you believe in. As providers of products/services, the big and small companies are damn well responsible to be transparent. Raise a voice to make the big fishes speak.
Adding to this a link forwarded by a friend. http://www.psrast.org/pusz
Snippet from this:
Adding to this a link forwarded by a friend. http://www.psrast.org/pusz
Snippet from this:
"Dr Arpad Pusztai evoked world wide media attention in August 1998, when he said in British TV that he would not eat genetically engineered food because of the insufficient testing procedures they have undergone.
Pusztai is a world renowned... expert on food safety, who worked at UK's leading food safety research lab, the Rowett institute. His statement obviously threatened to damage the then ongoing multimillion PR campaign of the Biotech industry to create public confidence in GE foods. A few days after his public appearance he was suspended and gagged by the research institute where he worked. "
Pusztai is a world renowned... expert on food safety, who worked at UK's leading food safety research lab, the Rowett institute. His statement obviously threatened to damage the then ongoing multimillion PR campaign of the Biotech industry to create public confidence in GE foods. A few days after his public appearance he was suspended and gagged by the research institute where he worked. "
