World Hunger and Genetically Modified Foods

World Hunger and Genetically Modified Foods  

 Are GM foods the solution to world hunger? This is the big one. Proponents of GM foods know that if they can pull this one off, then the money will really start to roll in. Let's look at some of the issues involved in this topic of global significance.

The argument put forward to support the proposal that genetic modification of food will help solve the world hunger problem is simple: Millions of people around the world are starving. They do not get enough to eat. By genetically modifying crops so that more food is produced, the problem of world hunger can be solved.
         On the surface, the above argument may seem highly convincing. More food leads to less hunger. It certainly seems to ring true. And we all want starvation to be eliminated. So what's wrong with using gene technology to produce more food and solve the problem?

Some Facts

The argument that people are starving due to a global lack of food production is flawed. We have enough food to feed everyone on the planet. The reason why people go hungry is therefore not because there is not enough food. It is because of barriers, whether they be political, economic, or any other, that prevent certain groups of people from being able to eat the food that is already there. Many people go hungry, for instance, simply because they do not have enough money to buy food. After all, people even go hungry in North America and in Europe where there is clearly enough food. The reasons for starvation will depend on the circumstances of the individual e.g. illegal immigrants, no job and no income support etc. The distribution of food on the planet is also a major factor in relation to starvation. Take, for instance, the example of Ethiopia, where at the height of its famine, a significant quantity of food grown there was actually exported to the USA.

     One must also question the intention of biotechnology companies. Are they really spending billions of pounds and dollars on developing and advertising GM crops in order to supply so much of it to people who can't afford it? Since when did they take up this charitable role? Or is each biotechnology company a business that wants to sell its product at the best price that will give them the maximum possible return for their investment? Also, if solving world hunger was the aim of biotechnology companies, and already millions of people are eating their GM products, then would one not expect that at least a few thousand people had already been saved from starvation? And if they haven't then why is that? The reality is that the GM products are not being supplied to the starving. All that is essentially happening is that they are replacing the conventional foods that were already there to begin with. And neither is there any reduction in price. So, if you couldn't afford or didn't have access to conventional food before, then it is extremely unlikely that you can afford or have access to GM food, now. The price and distribution of food has, on average, remained unchanged. So where exactly do GM foods end up? Much GM food actually ends up in processed foods such as biscuits, cakes, pizzas, crisps etc.

Surely these aren't the sort of foods that we need more of in order to solve world hunger! Also a large proportion is fed to animals. With regards to world hunger, there are two problems with channeling large quantities of food into animal feed: A) It does little to help the millions of starving people in places like India who are actually vegetarian. B) It is an inefficient way to feed large numbers of people. The closer one examines the proposal that GM companies are aiming to eradicate world hunger, the more clear it is that they are not. Regarding food quantity, one must even question the assumption that genetically modification is the way to increase yields. A 1999 report from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), after examining crops grown in a number of different areas, refuted the claim that genetic modification results in greater yields of crop. .......so it actually seems, that genetic modification may not even help us to grow more food in the first place! It doesn't even end there. One very sinister aspect of the technology which has been, and apparently still is being researched, is what is known as the 'Terminator Technology'. By inserting a set of 'Terminator genes' into the DNA of a crop, the seeds of the following generation would be dead.

 The farmer would therefore have no viable seed to plant for the following year. In many countries the saving of seed for the following year is common and allows the farmer to be more self-sufficient. The Terminator technology, if applied would ensure that this will not happen. The only way the farmer could show any more seed would be by buying them......and only if they can afford it. Whenever one examines the deeper issues related to GM food it repeatedly becomes clear that the technology is driven purely for commercial gain, that food is being perceived as nothing other than a lifeless commodity, and that the real problem of world hunger is used as a PR gimmick to facilitate the acceptance of this technology, which is then used for a completely different and selfish purpose. The global monopolization of food by multinationals is occurring at an alarming rate. Already a handful of companies own almost a half of the world’s seed market. Seed distributors are being taken over by big biotechnology companies. Soon farmers will have no choice. And, therefore, neither wills us. GM foods are an attempt to control the world food market at the expense of the global environment and the needs and desires of most of the world population.

Let us now take a listen to the voices of delegates of 20 African countries regarding the claim that biotechnology will help solve world hunger - " We…strongly object that the image of the poor and hungry is being used by multinational corporations to push a technology that is neither safe, environmentally friendly, nor economically beneficial to us……On the contrary, we think that it <gene technologies> 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."

Some Final Comments

         World hunger is a real issue; there is no denying that. However it is becoming very clear that it will not be eradicated by GM food. An overdependent on technologies, to solve problems arising from social, political and economic roots, will encourage the growth of further imbalances and instability as a result of these fundamental issues being left unaddressed. What is needed is the turning of our attention to more basic problems, so that we can see what is there. As we unravel these problems, more holistic strategies will need to be implemented to help solve them; strategies which will produce ripples of side-benefits, and not side-effects. 
         We also need small communities to have more power, allowing them to be actively involved in decisions that directly affect them. The globalization of society increases bureaucracy, forgets the majority and mostly remembers only the few multinationals - free trade becomes more important than the freedom and needs of millions of smaller groups. This is a complex issue but GM foods find it easier to gain a foothold in this kind of political climate and we hope to therefore address issues related to globalization, on this web-site, in the future.