[Ngo-sanrm] Fwd: Lies and Fabrications: The Propaganda Campaign in Support of Genetically Modified Crops (GMO)

Sustainable Agriculture and Natural Resources Management Working Group ngo-sanrm at ngocentre.org.vn
Tue Feb 24 15:25:21 GMT 2015


*CHUCK SEARCY*

*Project RENEW / VFP Chapter 160*

*Agent Orange Working Group*
*71 Trần Quốc Toản, Hà Nội, Việt Nam*

*M    +8 490 342 0769*

*E     chuckusvn at gmail.com <chuckusvn at gmail.com>*

*Sk   chucksearcy*

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Global Research E-Newsletter <newsletter at globalresearch.ca>
Date: Tue, Feb 24, 2015 at 9:19 PM
Subject: Lies and Fabrications: The Propaganda Campaign in Support of
Genetically Modified Crops (GMO)
To: chuckusvn at gmail.com



<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001vqSOmw-wMu7Pi3ANj45xodqaQ65dNoS-Vgf2xbtJXV1vxxsWx6lLbikMFaIlZOubAww4WufsnF9jQI-r2GXMYXZtR0JQKO6gl85hHw5ALsYZh74gJDKnETD-OAA44MlC3q-4eca0Z_vmom7yE-EXhc1rdqnVGtKt-sXnqJ8J0whIHyuai0HwfA==&c=jhzt-0zmOkYzcfE1ZLWhcgQxiCyarWa-U631k7QM9QCNs25d2E_pjg==&ch=994htLXaYUB_j3cEfnWzvkbkmXHOJEVX-oCkkGMWpuXfQ-4z_WZg7Q==>
 Lies and Fabrications: The Propaganda Campaign in Support of Genetically
Modified Crops (GMO)
By Colin Todhunter
<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001vqSOmw-wMu7Pi3ANj45xodqaQ65dNoS-Vgf2xbtJXV1vxxsWx6lLbnnd35e_wDZcCiCHfkhS9etZ51X-7PmoFHuhvau53UvW7WrZrEPqDvMOkdED32AcrajzjQKvEgpyu4Sh8r8W7YZKl1ROhf--Kw9pGrYmJ9XOtDclXTeNkTQ_DcQ0rgOZyU_nxKQzSscnLHwOrnvObJ6YyHPb_-3N8w==&c=jhzt-0zmOkYzcfE1ZLWhcgQxiCyarWa-U631k7QM9QCNs25d2E_pjg==&ch=994htLXaYUB_j3cEfnWzvkbkmXHOJEVX-oCkkGMWpuXfQ-4z_WZg7Q==>
Global Research, February 24, 2015
Url of this article:
http://www.globalresearch.ca/lies-and-fabrications-the-propaganda-campaign-in-support-of-genetically-modified-crops-gmo/5433062
<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001vqSOmw-wMu7Pi3ANj45xodqaQ65dNoS-Vgf2xbtJXV1vxxsWx6lLbhHMYCv7K4UCYwPzlBp52xtYgkMG8XspK8htn1-SMxGNekz6HQb7vYPCUjhpSQbsHyZkMRwRpxWXf5crZa3fnSaCSD5TWo0CBLEI3P2HEG6IneilJe9mPXfBqBFYKDarLufZF29k3_x6DScUeebzcuyZLExdcUS_Jpht8qdpGmVcwOZ503LYbG65zhXPwXlAQ0ZHBK8dz086pI7zwxbcGzbe3sSv0qTxRH9StATO5qqqrDx82FeXz89Wz8lW4KBw2Q==&c=jhzt-0zmOkYzcfE1ZLWhcgQxiCyarWa-U631k7QM9QCNs25d2E_pjg==&ch=994htLXaYUB_j3cEfnWzvkbkmXHOJEVX-oCkkGMWpuXfQ-4z_WZg7Q==>
 [image: GMO-Concept-Corn-Spelled-Out-Husk]

 *According to Mathew Holehouse in the UK’s Telegraph newspaper (here
<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001vqSOmw-wMu7Pi3ANj45xodqaQ65dNoS-Vgf2xbtJXV1vxxsWx6lLbhHMYCv7K4UCF0xBSnVbKL3stZhk2hnSplfziX2UPzqAlZxBIUNORRUuD2zGtoX3fie_iWAwTa4CqsBpav_9Hn3tTpgfRyK5ffCVNvb-rlgsJESMSjgh4HH-Hd6dVzNIHRSEwH_FBhebVeocMx_8lUQBOHfjegcV8NeFFZgVYQo5W7jqNiMUDqrYjqbr5A308scs1HoO1-vCeByr-YLfm7GIQJegc-vHO75kZd34z65m1DYZUa-HCGhzsUXtPpGPaJu4ddvzuA8z&c=jhzt-0zmOkYzcfE1ZLWhcgQxiCyarWa-U631k7QM9QCNs25d2E_pjg==&ch=994htLXaYUB_j3cEfnWzvkbkmXHOJEVX-oCkkGMWpuXfQ-4z_WZg7Q==>),
former UK Environment Minister Owen Paterson will this week accuse the
European Union and Greenpeace of condemning people in the developing world
to death by refusing to accept genetically modified crops. Speaking in
Pretoria, South Africa, on Tuesday, Paterson will warn that a food
revolution that could save Africa from hunger is being held back and that
the world is on the cusp of a green revolution, of the kind that fed a
billion people in the 1960s and 1970s as the world’s population soared.*

After talking about a growing global population and the pivotal role of
GMOs in feeding it, Paterson will assert:

“This is also a time, however, of great mischief, in which many individuals
and even governments are turning their backs on progress. Not since the
original Luddites smashed cotton mill machinery in early 19th century
England, have we seen such an organised, fanatical antagonism to progress
and science. These enemies of the Green Revolution call themselves
‘progressive’, but their agenda could hardly be more backward-looking and
regressive... their policies would condemn billions to hunger, poverty and
underdevelopment. And their insistence on mandating primitive, inefficient
farming techniques would decimate the earth’s remaining wild spaces,
devastate species and biodiversity, and leave our natural ecology poorer as
a result.”

Instead of parroting the corporate spin of the pro-GMO lobby, Paterson
would do better to consider more viable options that he likes to denigrate
as ‘backward-looking and regressive’ by listening to what Russia’s Prime
Minister Dmitry Medvedev stated in April of last year:

“We don’t have a goal of developing GM products here or to import them. We
can feed ourselves with normal, common, not genetically modified products.
If the Americans like to eat such products, let them eat them. We don’t
need to do that; we have enough space and opportunities to produce organic
food.” (see here
<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001vqSOmw-wMu7Pi3ANj45xodqaQ65dNoS-Vgf2xbtJXV1vxxsWx6lLbrS-ZIm03baYvQzl7EosKfVKA3JPN1Dyt0nW6fgLKl5VWuSNBUmldzEVYvKebdhLjU_88h4vHfyR6il0chuKJsG1Za3GyZ12zCAXjtdraVOLnJxfD9KV1aclbQMskjsOBXoeNXq6DCTwTrtr4USr58aFlj-g92icaQ==&c=jhzt-0zmOkYzcfE1ZLWhcgQxiCyarWa-U631k7QM9QCNs25d2E_pjg==&ch=994htLXaYUB_j3cEfnWzvkbkmXHOJEVX-oCkkGMWpuXfQ-4z_WZg7Q==>
)

Or maybe Paterson would benefit from heeding a Statement signed by 24
delegates from 18 African countries to the United Nations Food and
Agricultural Organization in 1998:

“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.”

Perhaps he should also listen to Viva Kermani (here
<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001vqSOmw-wMu7Pi3ANj45xodqaQ65dNoS-Vgf2xbtJXV1vxxsWx6lLbhHMYCv7K4UCb1-q0Ag8SvdNBy2cHEOZb1x9fZXbavrnr3bzJ39IlSrhmjljpqPsIx87_b8mRdE0P8UJsoJRMG8BD_ljU_850ZdKvh9qJQbdITnPE5Gp3yCRP9OPNC3kKsFOfcOCHMEj4FTNfibJ6daB8DANKdP4O-OoonkgQlwL9VthW328OJbv4h5yKD_bSSgi89kEQ57R&c=jhzt-0zmOkYzcfE1ZLWhcgQxiCyarWa-U631k7QM9QCNs25d2E_pjg==&ch=994htLXaYUB_j3cEfnWzvkbkmXHOJEVX-oCkkGMWpuXfQ-4z_WZg7Q==>
- supported by data) when talking about the situation in India:

“... the statements that they [supporters of GMOs] use such as “thousands
die of hunger daily in India” are irresponsible and baseless
scare-mongering with a view to projecting GM as the only answer. When our
people go hungry, or suffer from malnutrition, it is not for lack of food,
it is because their right to safe and nutritious food that is culturally
connected has been blocked. That is why it is not a technological fix
problem and GM has no place in it.”

Paterson has a history of engaging in the type of emotional blackmail and
smearing of critics that comes second nature to the pro-GMO lobby. Anyone
(usually portrayed as affluent Westerners – which is not true, given many
of the critics are not ‘Western’, affluent or reside in ‘developed’
countries) who opposes GM crops or food is painted as an enemy of the poor
because they take food from their bellies (see this
<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001vqSOmw-wMu7Pi3ANj45xodqaQ65dNoS-Vgf2xbtJXV1vxxsWx6lLbqzqlcCMlM38L8TsZD2lTA217PAmKzsMpmBFgI3OeJv_l-3eNXckeI7g6Lp8Pw-1kHdybFWkrIsg54wTePgXEql4Cxc4OMuhPxzumHdnR2xUOwHucTuzsnKfwdGLqKg6e5jivIfXU_AyLaWvxs97Wdh9qq6cA30eJogCKvlodYNWHT6n0lmVp3-SEg-991a4MLYdC5NXNfynMjUm31Qyt6LB9wBPOUl0iEqecbth8oJWmQgD8lGUoint7OgwH8UbsymP0f9Vir-oMTn4djPplSXnZQpU3g2htCZdLNo5gBXq&c=jhzt-0zmOkYzcfE1ZLWhcgQxiCyarWa-U631k7QM9QCNs25d2E_pjg==&ch=994htLXaYUB_j3cEfnWzvkbkmXHOJEVX-oCkkGMWpuXfQ-4z_WZg7Q==>).
Paterson is using a rhetorical device deliberately designed to mislead and
stir up emotion. His tactics are based on spurious claims about the
efficacy of GMO technology and are intended to divert attention away from
the true nature and causes of hunger and food poverty.

Proponents of GM crops constantly claim that we need such technology to
address hunger and to feed a growing global population. We are told by the
GMO biotech lobby that GM crops are essential, are better for the
environment and will provide the tools that farmers need in a time of
climate chaos. They claim that GM crops provide higher yields and higher
incomes for farmers around the world. All such claims have been shown to be
bogus.

For example, let us take one report from the many that could be cited to
show the fallacious nature of these claims. The Canadian Biotechnology
Action Network (CBAN) last year released a report that concluded hunger is
caused by poverty and inequality and that we already produce enough food to
feed the world’s population and did so even at the peak of the world food
crisis in 2008. The report went on to say that current global food
production provides enough to feed ten billion people and the recent food
price crises of 2008 and 2011 both took place in years of record global
harvests, clearly showing that these crises were not the result of scarcity.

CBAN also noted that the GM crops that are on the market today are not
designed to address hunger. Four GM crops account for almost 100 percent of
worldwide GM crop acreage, and all four have been developed for large-scale
industrial farming systems and are used as cash crops for export, to
produce fuel or for processed food and animal feed.

The report also stated that GM crops have not increased yields and do not
increase farmers’ incomes. GM crops lead to an increase in pesticide use
and cause further harm to the environment. Pesticide reduction was the
primary selling point for Bt cotton adoption in India, but overall
pesticide use has not decreased in any state that grows Bt cotton, with the
exception of Andhra Pradesh. Read the full report
<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001vqSOmw-wMu7Pi3ANj45xodqaQ65dNoS-Vgf2xbtJXV1vxxsWx6lLbqzqlcCMlM38d6C5xBHVe8QLlvanG7vDlu_nupUmhzAJVbBfGwJ8pxkn7TkIPUFscCR2DFCZ_pj-zeKxfZzChc1DCCNGpPn6fT9R-1RdhOHS1y-TygfkBO6MLNAdyAtiy9gV8Pg0biiVlMlH2clW3kMCY4ANmA78bw==&c=jhzt-0zmOkYzcfE1ZLWhcgQxiCyarWa-U631k7QM9QCNs25d2E_pjg==&ch=994htLXaYUB_j3cEfnWzvkbkmXHOJEVX-oCkkGMWpuXfQ-4z_WZg7Q==>
that contains over 100 references in in support of these claims.

Hunger, food security and ‘feeding the world’ is a political, social and
economic problem and no amount of gene splicing is capable of surmounting
obstacles like poor roads, inadequate rural credit systems and insufficient
irrigation.

Paterson’s talk about backward, regressive, primitive farming practices
that would condemn millions to hunger and decimate the ecology is again
playing on fear and emotion. What he says has no basis in reality.

Numerous official reports have argued that to feed the hungry in poorer
regions we need to support diverse, sustainable agro-ecological methods of
farming and strengthen local food economies: for example, see this
<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001vqSOmw-wMu7Pi3ANj45xodqaQ65dNoS-Vgf2xbtJXV1vxxsWx6lLbhHMYCv7K4UCoXwwO9rtMMI6MwC0Ch1ODKl5wTWU6TTR4dZxvwmHHcv0zWr7N2tifUBpRI7d1iGFV0yL3XhK98DkZpzMLbL5lWRlGCdJk41GG6xP_uk5ZnsREvyorVa1AAX1n-pCRFNlzfVILLnMvyOdO8FpZ_1xufNeU49VS4Ymv-4ifO_gqj212qgWLpcyfw==&c=jhzt-0zmOkYzcfE1ZLWhcgQxiCyarWa-U631k7QM9QCNs25d2E_pjg==&ch=994htLXaYUB_j3cEfnWzvkbkmXHOJEVX-oCkkGMWpuXfQ-4z_WZg7Q==>
UN report, this
<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001vqSOmw-wMu7Pi3ANj45xodqaQ65dNoS-Vgf2xbtJXV1vxxsWx6lLbqzqlcCMlM38Vfqt_NW5xEmk0RaXnsRwpkXRA-xw1AhoHXZplDqStn0EMGRcdWfKV4SFBtX8l7ovnUOejavaLSESxC0-37krmu4Edy2jjv4xc6w3WelDimvy40BLWqKkXRJg4XhFXw30PpwFunFNLHHcEp3xsQyayP6eSC7VzA9Ee_k-BxGlEktwZRWiclZas6mUSytTjk34rDwBRmQIBS91DkB5J6vG-cB9dFhHzDGMeN4kNqdcmXbgAXTPXNbUskAptIBDQH0z7Be8xwwGiaE=&c=jhzt-0zmOkYzcfE1ZLWhcgQxiCyarWa-U631k7QM9QCNs25d2E_pjg==&ch=994htLXaYUB_j3cEfnWzvkbkmXHOJEVX-oCkkGMWpuXfQ-4z_WZg7Q==>
official report, this
<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001vqSOmw-wMu7Pi3ANj45xodqaQ65dNoS-Vgf2xbtJXV1vxxsWx6lLbhHMYCv7K4UCOyq-ii02D3aqM0eS4bs-TnVlypeOMRV9Hh1zzvaUUB83b8LRg7KjXwNkaoi1frH3p-dtyL9eQuGbRzoNhkNpr2h6E99n4zsW3ZUG22pwoziiPR9e8M1ZxS4YsyknH6xc_KoXwhI_Df_OFzBs1PMl8utQ3fq3VOTVz8SVy9VXY0yAommhWfhYhHiLV7EQxXFgYweDSKVaKus=&c=jhzt-0zmOkYzcfE1ZLWhcgQxiCyarWa-U631k7QM9QCNs25d2E_pjg==&ch=994htLXaYUB_j3cEfnWzvkbkmXHOJEVX-oCkkGMWpuXfQ-4z_WZg7Q==>
report by the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food and this
<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001vqSOmw-wMu7Pi3ANj45xodqaQ65dNoS-Vgf2xbtJXV1vxxsWx6lLbhHMYCv7K4UCq7L-zgr098a3P2NeQ6nScBYSZN1-gcbTyfiHEw7B0vuRCoci9EWvpDepg1AWlMJpN_d_0oHkHHCUjzKOTu5E34IrLyTGTFP0AbcPIif4h5hSF2r8EWgva3ZAlLQDE3gzclQlbmeiO6Bu8EdttOrcvXlY3JARcLCnvAIPPeWlUMLTM3eT8yIixw==&c=jhzt-0zmOkYzcfE1ZLWhcgQxiCyarWa-U631k7QM9QCNs25d2E_pjg==&ch=994htLXaYUB_j3cEfnWzvkbkmXHOJEVX-oCkkGMWpuXfQ-4z_WZg7Q==>
report by 400 experts which was twice peer reviewed.

See also see this
<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001vqSOmw-wMu7Pi3ANj45xodqaQ65dNoS-Vgf2xbtJXV1vxxsWx6lLbhHMYCv7K4UCc4HLTMsEylIoB3RoPIK0dwTWDBWLidvjG_G6_Xcx4-ZQH6MYhIJnj_AaWkWO8R723Oq-dtCHclyF3Ll-MU-XYcKrvLMO8auw8J0qyq6ea4xpPIt42jDVRMNhue3A_aGntG60tyAd_NKW-1REr1w0txr_s1jesNf9M5x7GjqWzVmwLDQRq9ccpaadR04vQ4bXIH4fnWFO4FCkOWEf0DcTsrAqN1kU6_pxGAtUyCg627EqNgoaXVhrQZgwPbwHo7AmnW3K9-9EsqWA0SVEGQ2WqEmJuyLeX5tICL3DNDEq0Ngwnq4uvkHu7VSqYT-j2eKc&c=jhzt-0zmOkYzcfE1ZLWhcgQxiCyarWa-U631k7QM9QCNs25d2E_pjg==&ch=994htLXaYUB_j3cEfnWzvkbkmXHOJEVX-oCkkGMWpuXfQ-4z_WZg7Q==>
report that indicates GMOs are not necessary to feed the world.

So from where and from who is Paterson getting his information from? I
think we know the answer.

It is after all small farms and peasant farmers (more often than not
serving local communities) that are more productive than giant industrial
(export-oriented) farms and which produce most of the world’s food (see this
<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001vqSOmw-wMu7Pi3ANj45xodqaQ65dNoS-Vgf2xbtJXV1vxxsWx6lLbplE2vUm_Pu3MNXfIE9BKupArmEh9HMlCBSWeHG0k33HFAFU-GlmvkyRpYKuO-65lNdN0-JUV3_U0LVVDNTGWxsw_kNaYc0tu4iAxaOc8VqiUjitrnIOLwTWrsk525U_ke77TVHt5d0-swcJPhXJaavPBI32ZiNiAHN8oiJ1FSweVhXNxICBsctzcz5MLPq2CvXY3fwl5SRN2YQSe0uoIFCIbS4x-nrIpjDbOwYRbdS6ETn3N4mreL2LVc9zJpqf1VqYW5MawMpP&c=jhzt-0zmOkYzcfE1ZLWhcgQxiCyarWa-U631k7QM9QCNs25d2E_pjg==&ch=994htLXaYUB_j3cEfnWzvkbkmXHOJEVX-oCkkGMWpuXfQ-4z_WZg7Q==>
report from GRAIN). The experience with GM crops shows that the application
of GM technology is more likely to actually undermine food security and
entrench the social, economic and environmental problems created by
industrial agriculture and corporate control (see this
<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001vqSOmw-wMu7Pi3ANj45xodqaQ65dNoS-Vgf2xbtJXV1vxxsWx6lLbhHMYCv7K4UCmBRUcliuyEomsIcrOpsbDkVrkhCBh3aJDONtOQAawecZmFK22ppqHnBrxJK3JnVM6HHsdrCTdv_V3QOghoL-6KmPRm0M-D9gmBwIz7z9kAp3LMz_PljwBUjhk1jq9LqYxqgruj85Kw4hS83Y1huKCouc4XiaHRT76k-nw9o1qec0BmbSCCwPG2MX_GgN1UGQKT6II5Td3_w=&c=jhzt-0zmOkYzcfE1ZLWhcgQxiCyarWa-U631k7QM9QCNs25d2E_pjg==&ch=994htLXaYUB_j3cEfnWzvkbkmXHOJEVX-oCkkGMWpuXfQ-4z_WZg7Q==>
other report from GRAIN and this
<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001vqSOmw-wMu7Pi3ANj45xodqaQ65dNoS-Vgf2xbtJXV1vxxsWx6lLbqzqlcCMlM383QZaUfM8WJfEPtDQKwAprh45rIxz9UoJAbYMqOTJ8e2MGpQm8kj22srkyVIZfRauOfRtlY901eSB6lNwUgDhMtI2bCoFmjSWPjnA-iS_znLd-zOxauc8IL_q_760WUDtHiTiOJ_G8cpoIIdfnwtWVAmuyIC3zYzg9NZ9ivPJv8ZBzvCvr125TB121mr3P0pfsvTyLhGB5NGDmKEheNkLnzsk_eM0UnHGhCzjYGtQRrF2nvk9Q1YcQDQRX9bOL4FR&c=jhzt-0zmOkYzcfE1ZLWhcgQxiCyarWa-U631k7QM9QCNs25d2E_pjg==&ch=994htLXaYUB_j3cEfnWzvkbkmXHOJEVX-oCkkGMWpuXfQ-4z_WZg7Q==>
article by Helena Paul documenting ecocide and genocide in South America
due to the imposition of GM crops there).

“The problem is that the poor have no money to buy food and increasingly,
no access to land on which to grow it... GM is a dangerous distraction from
real solutions and claims that GM can help feed the world can be viewed as
exploitation of the suffering of the hungry. GM crops do not increase
yield. Nor are there any GM crops that are better than non-GM crops at
tolerating poor soils or challenging climate conditions. Thus it is
difficult to see how GM can contribute to solving world hunger... The two
major GM crops, soy and maize, mostly go into animal feed for intensive
livestock operations, biofuels to power cars, and processed human food –
products for wealthy nations that have nothing to do with meeting the basic
food needs of the poor and hungry.”

This above quote is from the Open Earth Source report GMOs Myths and Truths
<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001vqSOmw-wMu7Pi3ANj45xodqaQ65dNoS-Vgf2xbtJXV1vxxsWx6lLbhHMYCv7K4UCf43PYQ90A0vrN6XY7vgrr7EDjQNTCvI0zD_OonelimG8JxFllKUMhgEsSSFfh4dSgoKq54ihde0TjeZSf-NlM9FuP7-dCuf_7FNcQ56ZTqepPcL85SLPAgOBzlCMV9Zb1U_7--0rGENEFI3CK-5oZkdv4zuKSyjZBXR21Az2Br_aAcSKIq51MSkgCQvw5q57&c=jhzt-0zmOkYzcfE1ZLWhcgQxiCyarWa-U631k7QM9QCNs25d2E_pjg==&ch=994htLXaYUB_j3cEfnWzvkbkmXHOJEVX-oCkkGMWpuXfQ-4z_WZg7Q==>.
The report provides specific details about GM crops that have been
specifically promoted as helping small-scale and poor farmers in Africa.
However, the results were the opposite of what was promised and all these
projects failed.

Owen Paterson is a staunch supporter of GM technology, so staunch in fact
that fellow Conservative Party MP Zac Goldsmith stated Paterson was little
more than an industry puppet (see this
<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001vqSOmw-wMu7Pi3ANj45xodqaQ65dNoS-Vgf2xbtJXV1vxxsWx6lLbl5S0-NYwObHlheOR2l0Z-WFq_RRwO5eF5Z0M3Sn3xIdVnKKaJS77EnS2uefbdSFM4DQtLNx2EellUXGxQLXaGoPozEAQEBkueIJSWhViRsOMlS7DCrTDVUr1TsEapNMVXr6dNIIBvteE3fWcylQFltCNXp7S-BzuuYShHv_dmy4dp8Ev4fBjo5xtzia3uXYbbHL-QRiY7YDgRO1LJKYDuzEyqmU7sX2YSG0-aXne9SdcnJp87EPALnL8tV2FcxFAKDB8T3EKF6APBjVDFbVb64=&c=jhzt-0zmOkYzcfE1ZLWhcgQxiCyarWa-U631k7QM9QCNs25d2E_pjg==&ch=994htLXaYUB_j3cEfnWzvkbkmXHOJEVX-oCkkGMWpuXfQ-4z_WZg7Q==>
in the UK’s Independent newspaper that quotes Goldsmith).

Paterson is ignorant of or at least content to side line the devastating,
deleterious health, environmental, social and economic impacts of GMOs,
which are outined in the ‘GMO Myths and Truths’ report. He acts as a
mouthpieces for the GMO biotech sector and has made numerous false claims
about the benefits and safety of GMOs that fly in the face of research
findings.

In the recent past, he was keen to reassure the British public that safety
concerns over GMOs are based on “humbug” and that GM food is completely
safe to eat. See this
<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001vqSOmw-wMu7Pi3ANj45xodqaQ65dNoS-Vgf2xbtJXV1vxxsWx6lLbq8Iv3W9oRn3_FCqrYAEYXQ1K634Yx5ubpZBnbEIMm2-UrAAG5RSIlth-VUH723-ZV9JDw-m2admbarGYqjffEYlI5128kZAMvcsoew_p4dFmKBDKJFvchY1Es6PYifp_U7PTmP00Oq_2L8B4Vi3sHoRQk8oUiiWtg==&c=jhzt-0zmOkYzcfE1ZLWhcgQxiCyarWa-U631k7QM9QCNs25d2E_pjg==&ch=994htLXaYUB_j3cEfnWzvkbkmXHOJEVX-oCkkGMWpuXfQ-4z_WZg7Q==>
article, which outlines Paterson’s stance and critiques his claims.

When Paterson talks about ‘enemies’ of the ‘green revolution’ as being
fanatical Luddites, he may also like to consider that the ‘green
revolution’ was not the resounding success he likes to portray it as. Raj
Patel provides some revealing insight into how the ‘green revolution’ took
credit for many gains in Indian agricultural that were due to other
influences (see this
<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001vqSOmw-wMu7Pi3ANj45xodqaQ65dNoS-Vgf2xbtJXV1vxxsWx6lLbhHMYCv7K4UCkCh5hoZn40KfJHh9R2yIdt81qBn9_1IPIhaFzrM68YRKYw4_lAZtZ0cJKGGlpf-gVYsGf4O03zrzflM2vAsXNi48TsvTdngMFGEEl4meAUVPDyIJiRLhQC4pknXTcekmjGSw0W8PZy2MNU0MGfKIZC65HY9nf7Z5t66SK9MVbRnoB1LOS6ixaOdfZZO_rWUNAbdzPVJ8e3a3IjINenrSJYLao82eS7BSx-o0yCCpg13rX_TbrkHKpooWGoEBgQMrONQK3zrBorZ1Rsuu9NFMlQ==&c=jhzt-0zmOkYzcfE1ZLWhcgQxiCyarWa-U631k7QM9QCNs25d2E_pjg==&ch=994htLXaYUB_j3cEfnWzvkbkmXHOJEVX-oCkkGMWpuXfQ-4z_WZg7Q==>).
And, of course, the ‘green revolution’ was based on, among other things,
massive external inputs, violence, severe environmental and human health
degradation and debt (see this
<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001vqSOmw-wMu7Pi3ANj45xodqaQ65dNoS-Vgf2xbtJXV1vxxsWx6lLbhHMYCv7K4UC1jnef_hV6IGrD-mSpBvZwDVllfx2eIlkI4aLeQlwlgtxAEzHwhidFiuts2Nwi9SFv8mLsZ6KtPmxzjr4LuxyHKM0mVaERJOB1vUP-oatfsT1umyg9ICGhX0GYlsaG3P06PIqgS6AVjaBaM5Isj0esA==&c=jhzt-0zmOkYzcfE1ZLWhcgQxiCyarWa-U631k7QM9QCNs25d2E_pjg==&ch=994htLXaYUB_j3cEfnWzvkbkmXHOJEVX-oCkkGMWpuXfQ-4z_WZg7Q==>
– the entire text of Vandana Shiva’s book ‘The Violence of the Green
Revolution’ – and this
<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001vqSOmw-wMu7Pi3ANj45xodqaQ65dNoS-Vgf2xbtJXV1vxxsWx6lLbvl__BsH9mrlwhGuFd0CkVc0-5ppTw3txmeW9UzaqtuP2hRUt_u7JiMY9obRw8l40GDuIES9lIhwIjaKTbUXuqzBz-4RK2YsDxKX4dXpZZ9rbw3D1PEDWrIOm6XfM_BmRZ9mJfMmLqWYWLotR8_v8CYFDSm42oEhUNEz8NzNV1PNpPflphije4XM1fLfZblruhlQ1U3BAQhjWxEMqxhLizo=&c=jhzt-0zmOkYzcfE1ZLWhcgQxiCyarWa-U631k7QM9QCNs25d2E_pjg==&ch=994htLXaYUB_j3cEfnWzvkbkmXHOJEVX-oCkkGMWpuXfQ-4z_WZg7Q==>
and this
<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001vqSOmw-wMu7Pi3ANj45xodqaQ65dNoS-Vgf2xbtJXV1vxxsWx6lLbhHMYCv7K4UCd4_jX1cFZIb1iox2WB000fOk59rKl85A9JjInId7vz7g7ukhIftpE53ndeMuVmoszpikGa00SLrO8jNeUodXTi-EmZIx7wIuxZG4MoaHfZWwfxAM72fvxK-vvy8wifh4_UtQZn-EF_SiYeXSOw9ci3LjyIAN80oJ&c=jhzt-0zmOkYzcfE1ZLWhcgQxiCyarWa-U631k7QM9QCNs25d2E_pjg==&ch=994htLXaYUB_j3cEfnWzvkbkmXHOJEVX-oCkkGMWpuXfQ-4z_WZg7Q==>,
which both highlight the current agrarian crisis in Punjab, the original
‘poster boy’ of the ‘green revolution’).

It comes as no surprise that Paterson would state the things he does. As
Environment Minister, his support for GMOs was being carried out in
partnership with a number of pro-GMO institutions, including the
Agricultural Biotechnology Council (ABC), which is backed by GM companies
such as Monsanto, Syngenta and Bayer CropScience. Last year, despite
government attempts to throw a veil of secrecy over meetings and
conversations it had with the industry, GeneWatch UK uncovered evidence
that GMO companies are driving UK government policy in this area (see here
<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001vqSOmw-wMu7Pi3ANj45xodqaQ65dNoS-Vgf2xbtJXV1vxxsWx6lLbtxF0tiAZl_jPftU_qTh3-mJvTDdvk8ef0ZmN0kEdXWywozMh_DcRjTm8FPxzn0scFN_dPDBscNDtzi_vlV-FheyaMt3I7iNiHYzSiVzMrL-0v54VjSW1BoexcQ54hKVg1xJdoSvlvx9yq98ojCEswMqeHoEnWPYoWJgM0DswAJAk1bq6_8oULCwZl2MtIGTj0Y8b1IwwSpZmDqiy-7gLbKvqoc-IwUnGEKbW16ov1jnx66k7RcC3KMyhyKD0X0obuYiY1NBYaiJW6wz2EnOicIdpMIEp813d8N1n4ndpWrv1e2ZB_6Rn0kgMx_m1hMZ6hm1Spf8j4iW&c=jhzt-0zmOkYzcfE1ZLWhcgQxiCyarWa-U631k7QM9QCNs25d2E_pjg==&ch=994htLXaYUB_j3cEfnWzvkbkmXHOJEVX-oCkkGMWpuXfQ-4z_WZg7Q==>
).

So if you were still wondering from where and whom Paterson is getting his
information from, it should by now be clear.

His attacks on Greenpeace and others who advocate a shift away from
petrochemical/GM agriculture towards sustainable farming are part of the
wider media campaign to demonize scientists and prominent anti-GMO
campaigners. A number of hatchet pieces have in recent months branded
Vandana Shiva a liar and a charlatan and the GMO lobby has assembled all
the ingredients (not least a massive amount of money) of a classic yet
predictable propaganda campaign (see this
<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001vqSOmw-wMu7Pi3ANj45xodqaQ65dNoS-Vgf2xbtJXV1vxxsWx6lLbhHMYCv7K4UC4sTtdcUJW3iZ9nNvdqd_iBLK-Qg0ijbXDqswK3Fu4yfFpN0sRrb0S7W3mrNEQXr1rWh_Qhsnz0lbUwXVfrwip8bMCCFXD8mzwcuF7XzCtL0FM3Fyov7553GB-Gb2W8Dj6bgPOdVY6PBkNWo8AI6PWS0A0iiPXASF4CH4G9iqSkoOjBKAtjjqdut6omNY9mQV2l4Ko3_muGJ8cPDZU8bckHumI22RVYFYLLN6D-EAZ7Y-kmE7WQ2SICBJ6tuoBFQb&c=jhzt-0zmOkYzcfE1ZLWhcgQxiCyarWa-U631k7QM9QCNs25d2E_pjg==&ch=994htLXaYUB_j3cEfnWzvkbkmXHOJEVX-oCkkGMWpuXfQ-4z_WZg7Q==>
and this
<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001vqSOmw-wMu7Pi3ANj45xodqaQ65dNoS-Vgf2xbtJXV1vxxsWx6lLbhHMYCv7K4UCpxBWfm22zX79x5gqTJsvld8fSjF5DKf0Vo9fxdXYiQ7D9tfPGQqfa8y-vvkqF4PnXSATKktTmbBAhOMEhXGJeXhJbVMFpbiw8urZ-LuzrVDtSTLITtzkX2jKz-E8Ylg8&c=jhzt-0zmOkYzcfE1ZLWhcgQxiCyarWa-U631k7QM9QCNs25d2E_pjg==&ch=994htLXaYUB_j3cEfnWzvkbkmXHOJEVX-oCkkGMWpuXfQ-4z_WZg7Q==>).
>From the UK, to Ghana (see this
<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001vqSOmw-wMu7Pi3ANj45xodqaQ65dNoS-Vgf2xbtJXV1vxxsWx6lLbhHMYCv7K4UCYKjPQDXZIVlEV9qzes75oVgUYlytIGizBiB42ZZyZcYIeSNMZoMNzmyVnbNDYXiiZgnAkoSV3ukpPxHO969LA81R9VqAgcLAx8b2P60jPkqTmKPkhSUWymYLDb-NFJhkzmgrz_IHJbC7ZTNMPPNt2TjWJ_ynOQhiPGozsoMXe9LsE8kBbZ4B4tUMrcCnKDSgflDAIN96YdlBOWuYAcrYakY5ONzwQ9S4HxcFrYvGbg25y-ARGWkzWdI6c_wmj_kS&c=jhzt-0zmOkYzcfE1ZLWhcgQxiCyarWa-U631k7QM9QCNs25d2E_pjg==&ch=994htLXaYUB_j3cEfnWzvkbkmXHOJEVX-oCkkGMWpuXfQ-4z_WZg7Q==>)
and India (see this
<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001vqSOmw-wMu7Pi3ANj45xodqaQ65dNoS-Vgf2xbtJXV1vxxsWx6lLbhHMYCv7K4UCZ4BxXBObgavvi9DMPK-buyrPVMHktNFVBjvXuS9D0L0qBR8dUuBExUIyrSHhQn_iZdooZfBtFeG0sxik5HMrATqJhXZa80Scz53jkhGzLviHW8QDMLhNDaLcnllRY7mW923jt8yLRVObjs9qgIvX4Q==&c=jhzt-0zmOkYzcfE1ZLWhcgQxiCyarWa-U631k7QM9QCNs25d2E_pjg==&ch=994htLXaYUB_j3cEfnWzvkbkmXHOJEVX-oCkkGMWpuXfQ-4z_WZg7Q==>),
there is a concerted campaign by the GMO lobby and its political
handmaidens to demonize critics of GMOs.

Paterson plays his role well.

Such tactics are used because the pro-GMO lobby has a big problem. It
cannot provide a convincing case for GMOs. It therefore resorts to
populism, intimidation, character assassination, emotional blackmail,
falsehoods, panic mongering and unfounded claims (see this
<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001vqSOmw-wMu7Pi3ANj45xodqaQ65dNoS-Vgf2xbtJXV1vxxsWx6lLbhHMYCv7K4UC_zYgM2XWGdLItkdwSUFpQan5o1OG2KhbBGg62HjkJmvr114AjDdMIcXxTvEJUQbJJlY3GWk3eqayIk5DwnJk8BREvuKHFbekZhXzKBnv1RMzOETWP9NoqFudztEJ5NTt94cKjlE-t4_zieCrw32AziYLS7oxhoyhHg6mHkbjToClM-TIPRbPHf1esHzQ8V_H&c=jhzt-0zmOkYzcfE1ZLWhcgQxiCyarWa-U631k7QM9QCNs25d2E_pjg==&ch=994htLXaYUB_j3cEfnWzvkbkmXHOJEVX-oCkkGMWpuXfQ-4z_WZg7Q==>
to see how its rhetoric about ‘sound science’ and dispassionate reason
informing the debate on GMOs contradicts how it acts in reality). In fact,
it goes above and beyond such things by tightening its grip on countries on
the back of coups, war and conflict (see this
<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001vqSOmw-wMu7Pi3ANj45xodqaQ65dNoS-Vgf2xbtJXV1vxxsWx6lLbrS-ZIm03baYA-rmwuOKjfeZyo5NSIMr6ly-KJrnoX9T7BbtvLTIMT2XLZ2MmURbEagkHbzwt3He08wDtb5yHu68xtGUp1LcQZrIYh1bGSkj1hdCy-qtWXoYV9V9khsbXuKtGzIFRk5r2nUWyWv23hmmhO9BKN5ovw==&c=jhzt-0zmOkYzcfE1ZLWhcgQxiCyarWa-U631k7QM9QCNs25d2E_pjg==&ch=994htLXaYUB_j3cEfnWzvkbkmXHOJEVX-oCkkGMWpuXfQ-4z_WZg7Q==>
to understand how big agritech concerns benefit from and fuel the situation
in Ukraine).

Yes, it is a time of great mischief as Paterson says – but not because of
what his critics say or do – but because of what he and his backers do by
turning their backs on the type of sound science and progress in the way
that he falsely he accuses GMO critics of doing.

Paterson belongs to the pro-big business Conservative Party which champions
the type of privatisation, public expenditure reduction, deregulation, tax
avoiding and ‘free’ trade policies that have ceded policy decision making
to powerful corporate players. This has in turn led to a concentration of
wealth (see this
<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001vqSOmw-wMu7Pi3ANj45xodqaQ65dNoS-Vgf2xbtJXV1vxxsWx6lLbhHMYCv7K4UCk2DgmNcptm4X-ceKNoFr2ycRjDmsu9x0sndtarpqv6nopRtXRUlVYUOtkJYULhBZ2afvCO0eEDpeVSKUXVnOdCdNApN5rkUBc146ngVTBM9y9NP4mBWOA_doB9RDth6nko6JH9nuAPQjB5wXTBr5CbhjcgUo8CzMbM_2LmoaMHjjPb-2I1sx8x8FszPD-sB07kk-jh9YznpXQ4aqiJ9sxM4XEozZ4WCbaxK-B16cucW7lLHBVNJbsw0dJKDyesLeebbHRz14If0=&c=jhzt-0zmOkYzcfE1ZLWhcgQxiCyarWa-U631k7QM9QCNs25d2E_pjg==&ch=994htLXaYUB_j3cEfnWzvkbkmXHOJEVX-oCkkGMWpuXfQ-4z_WZg7Q==>)
and imposed ‘austerity’ and drives hunger, poverty, land grabs and the
disappearance of family/peasant farms (see this
<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001vqSOmw-wMu7Pi3ANj45xodqaQ65dNoS-Vgf2xbtJXV1vxxsWx6lLbhHMYCv7K4UCQ_y3h13I3Iim0k7CiyRnBdrpCCg26U0BboXOyFuPX5VQCVfGatiDbzBfg8VTzRu2uZ6fRdl9uNMgbUQY3y6rmAPAaXp3kqArH2RIOq02q5eDdGx9WVyq5HvYEqYwUKRi8qGTCU6cI0btA0Niqs8JFAvidgROQy8iqfCAgugwUBe5SrKsawviAA==&c=jhzt-0zmOkYzcfE1ZLWhcgQxiCyarWa-U631k7QM9QCNs25d2E_pjg==&ch=994htLXaYUB_j3cEfnWzvkbkmXHOJEVX-oCkkGMWpuXfQ-4z_WZg7Q==>
analysis of food commodity speculation, this
<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001vqSOmw-wMu7Pi3ANj45xodqaQ65dNoS-Vgf2xbtJXV1vxxsWx6lLbhHMYCv7K4UC_DskGsJxeONVrAcVoHFzciLmbiuhvF37ysEbWSBastftK49nPrGC4t-5IVQ3J_iW4nfVCJ73fgvdPtk3X5TjZ5lJyimlr1TkR4D-VDzG8p9DCwJMj6yZtfnT-HoAzNDZV2Mfv0kMYzwFGFjeVTRvdu42EjLEThTsdFbk8xtyrJ4p4vRQC5FvJ9sP83Y5jsAB5O6fyPbtihlRIBvcNUVvng==&c=jhzt-0zmOkYzcfE1ZLWhcgQxiCyarWa-U631k7QM9QCNs25d2E_pjg==&ch=994htLXaYUB_j3cEfnWzvkbkmXHOJEVX-oCkkGMWpuXfQ-4z_WZg7Q==>
description of the global food system and this
<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001vqSOmw-wMu7Pi3ANj45xodqaQ65dNoS-Vgf2xbtJXV1vxxsWx6lLbhHMYCv7K4UC8Bs6uOLL9nG38KTfPt_U0-KJX6S6c4USrgT9HsCZE_cX6D9evBi51s1f77gD4r80asY6mi5rl-DAMpT8xfpNZTii5IdSxh0J7amFKzPVg0YakVTl0CShpq4d_hz8mJflMqBx2YnZwKKYMV0wMF9uLABzI5YQ6Kxpit84piZreNDPlU38BWKGzgNuOGTAGgxSxK0KtWbFLGPgKmmUczlHXDXwAdz44qQw&c=jhzt-0zmOkYzcfE1ZLWhcgQxiCyarWa-U631k7QM9QCNs25d2E_pjg==&ch=994htLXaYUB_j3cEfnWzvkbkmXHOJEVX-oCkkGMWpuXfQ-4z_WZg7Q==>
report by the Oakland Institute on land grabs) – the very bedrock of global
food production (see this
<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001vqSOmw-wMu7Pi3ANj45xodqaQ65dNoS-Vgf2xbtJXV1vxxsWx6lLbhHMYCv7K4UCn9AvbuDolMLeQUf1cK7NBWWBsgx-kljWYJwYpErt873dZ0dyEIz19IXUXMojC4fi3XNk6H9-Vr8MToKOFzcH2dS2GBe7Vgj9mhk72qDKgUodUXfVbfSrI6RACmuY1Em54K8HfLfPDr20PsXdWhl-KJENm6LuRHStilWODnqwm5ugY3Kbd7u8BhpTy9BMqq57ythNBkCf6FTd7zbZbhqKFskbO87_4VoQm8qQgKY4byxNxAoleB4Oq68b81vbvBEeO9OTK8l2U5k=&c=jhzt-0zmOkYzcfE1ZLWhcgQxiCyarWa-U631k7QM9QCNs25d2E_pjg==&ch=994htLXaYUB_j3cEfnWzvkbkmXHOJEVX-oCkkGMWpuXfQ-4z_WZg7Q==>
).

What Paterson and the agritech cartel offer is more of the same by tearing
up traditional agriculture for the benefit of corporate entities. Paterson
talks of critics of GMO as being Luddites, fanatics and condemning billions
(yes, he does say billions!) to poverty and underdevelopment with
regressive policies. He should look closer to home.

He should realise that elite interests in the West have condemned tens of
millions to hunger and poverty in Africa by enslaving them and their
nations to debt and that agriculture has for many decades been an important
means by which US foreign policy creates dependence and subservience (see
here
<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001vqSOmw-wMu7Pi3ANj45xodqaQ65dNoS-Vgf2xbtJXV1vxxsWx6lLbhHMYCv7K4UCuu-Pl2ZTfwyfXDvceXl-YNTQ20g5B2Qh56kMW4OChF9gQXqLaErrU8sskumP__V_udGGGjIFgKDOFyHyv3tdtv6VPshnD9lXQ1YwH7x5KL3_puc0sI9bAPK5PtbHIuzmsQYlQt-vu1E__iwh7IM2qJHInGFDQyhP&c=jhzt-0zmOkYzcfE1ZLWhcgQxiCyarWa-U631k7QM9QCNs25d2E_pjg==&ch=994htLXaYUB_j3cEfnWzvkbkmXHOJEVX-oCkkGMWpuXfQ-4z_WZg7Q==>).
But such things are not to be debates by Paterson. Like all good (or should
that be bad?) politicians, he twists the truth and turns deception and
hypocrisy into an art.

The current global system of chemical-industrial agriculture and World
Trade Organisation rules that agritech companies helped draw up for their
benefit to force their products into countries (see here
<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001vqSOmw-wMu7Pi3ANj45xodqaQ65dNoS-Vgf2xbtJXV1vxxsWx6lLbhHMYCv7K4UC3sbDpsNLHmMkjAm3DCZovgTeC8oqgv4mycsvq0kHU3MXBP_3LyZqf8wsB_VruBz87-vT1isiflm0R1leUkKG5pH4iQ_bq4AhyWg7qtLPrP94jhJF9OvYjfJYzLpJByDDL_lfsgYkTstqgpjgaq7HFH6xtF27kDQRaXp6rgz1S04=&c=jhzt-0zmOkYzcfE1ZLWhcgQxiCyarWa-U631k7QM9QCNs25d2E_pjg==&ch=994htLXaYUB_j3cEfnWzvkbkmXHOJEVX-oCkkGMWpuXfQ-4z_WZg7Q==>)
are a major cause of structural hunger, poverty, illness and environmental
destruction. By its very design, the system is meant to suck the life from
people, nations and the planet for profit and control (see here
<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001vqSOmw-wMu7Pi3ANj45xodqaQ65dNoS-Vgf2xbtJXV1vxxsWx6lLbhHMYCv7K4UCwfNLqTF7W7bMejxmW0n9IQGkeS2DKHKMgk9e55NlHpr24ZYodqW4xU-hNYGelvRiFYkUzn5b2eL4tDvP7XvqIBSTcaQ4EcUs1fGFailu9dqQSX4Lc42tvar8DEzGRO3S&c=jhzt-0zmOkYzcfE1ZLWhcgQxiCyarWa-U631k7QM9QCNs25d2E_pjg==&ch=994htLXaYUB_j3cEfnWzvkbkmXHOJEVX-oCkkGMWpuXfQ-4z_WZg7Q==>).
Blaming critics of this system for the problems of the system is highly
convenient. And forwarding some bogus technical quick-fix will not put
things right. It represents more of the same.

So you want to ‘help’ Africa Mr Paterson?

Daniel Maingi works with small farmers in Kenya and belongs to the
organization Growth Partners for Africa. Maingi was born on a farm in
eastern Kenya and studied agriculture from a young age. He remembers a time
when his family would grow and eat a diversity of crops, such as mung
beans, green grams, pigeon peas, and a variety of fruits now considered
‘wild’. Following the Structural Adjustment Programmes of the 1980s and
1990s and a green revolution meant to boost agricultural efficiency, the
foods of his childhood have been replaced with maize, maize, and more
maize. He says:

“In the morning, you make porridge from maize and send the kids to school.
For lunch, boiled maize and a few green beans. In the evening, ugali, [a
staple dough-like maize dish, served with meat]... [today] it’s a
monoculture diet, being driven by the food system – it’s an injustice.”
(see here
<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001vqSOmw-wMu7Pi3ANj45xodqaQ65dNoS-Vgf2xbtJXV1vxxsWx6lLbhHMYCv7K4UCXMys8SIwg4NHMRauoJE1mvrppbVqgrGhbdgBZVEyqC-B31pJxB3_vrso-UdOqE6uk0VPOWSv6MwS1u7etSnrR07hph673bHv2C9lTvlvXZcRMBBTpA-vk8ZCeuNjCmL8yfpUjfq-5Va8Kf_2Kg4VXYPfxmVVEvcnr6QCaSN3nHH8M_E_AXmHvp07WZM-D-rjTKXHvaEbqGCBFWqVWYZPGQ==&c=jhzt-0zmOkYzcfE1ZLWhcgQxiCyarWa-U631k7QM9QCNs25d2E_pjg==&ch=994htLXaYUB_j3cEfnWzvkbkmXHOJEVX-oCkkGMWpuXfQ-4z_WZg7Q==>
and here
<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001vqSOmw-wMu7Pi3ANj45xodqaQ65dNoS-Vgf2xbtJXV1vxxsWx6lLbhHMYCv7K4UCQ5ZC6pWiG5VMR6p11579HAcF6P9aZiMiEnAR0HDurQK_ZmTHsDz0C5UgEDxglTq4grAlnGsLg3mfhTmQZY8odysyy33DO85oFohrZvd7Nz-39I5w3BNEhlATStSb8P-Eb2MEPFXs-DuwPpVmkoFa3IVEt1bu3JM-Zi4sU1fL1xVDp09eVii6wQ==&c=jhzt-0zmOkYzcfE1ZLWhcgQxiCyarWa-U631k7QM9QCNs25d2E_pjg==&ch=994htLXaYUB_j3cEfnWzvkbkmXHOJEVX-oCkkGMWpuXfQ-4z_WZg7Q==>
for the sources that quote Maingi and other commentators mentioned below).

As much of Africa is so dry, it’s not suited for thirsty crops, and heavy
use of fertilizer kills worms and microbes important for soil health.
Maingi therefore argues that the model of farming in the West is not
appropriate for farming in most of Africa and that the West should invest
in indigenous knowledge and agro-ecology.

Growth Partners Africa works with farmers to enrich the soil with manure
and other organic material, to use less water and to grow a variety of
crops, including some that would be considered weeds on an industrial farm.
For Maingi, food sovereignty in Africa means reverting to a way of farming
and eating that pre-dates major investment from the West.

Mariam Mayet of the African Centre for Biosafety in South Africa says that
many countries are subsidizing farmers to buy fertilizer as part of the
chemical-industrial model of agriculture, but that takes money away from
public crop-breeding programmes that provide improved seeds to farmers at
low cost:

“It’s a system designed to benefit agribusinesses and not small-scale
farmers.”

She adds because so many institutions, from African governments to the
World Bank, have ‘embraced’ the ‘green revolution’ so much that alternative
farming methods are getting short shrift.

Elizabeth Mpofu, of La Via Campesina, grows a variety of crops in Zimbabwe.
During a recent drought, neighbours who relied on chemical fertilizer lost
most of their crops. She reaped a bounty of sorghum, corn, and millet using
what are called agro-ecological methods: natural pest control, organic
fertilizer, and locally adapted crops.

There is also concern about the increased reliance on expensive inputs and
the dramatic drop in price of crops. This has resulted in poverty for the
small farmer.

Daniel Maingi:

“What the World Bank has done, the International Monetary fund, what AGRA
and Bill Gates are doing, it’s actually pretty wrong. The farmer himself
should not be starving”.

He added that what the Gates Foundation/big agritech backed Alliance for a
Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) (see this
<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001vqSOmw-wMu7Pi3ANj45xodqaQ65dNoS-Vgf2xbtJXV1vxxsWx6lLbhHMYCv7K4UCuyoGEugG53iGN2Vt7cMUHn322cdscCsK2os1KQbk4kDlbgcgBjKusxFAy0DnglqzSiY07IErew6IYFFe4MYUesKj2zrAfHpXg1JSqoW2P2iL--XEZrQnsA0alnZeqzSHjs-VZqJSWC8=&c=jhzt-0zmOkYzcfE1ZLWhcgQxiCyarWa-U631k7QM9QCNs25d2E_pjg==&ch=994htLXaYUB_j3cEfnWzvkbkmXHOJEVX-oCkkGMWpuXfQ-4z_WZg7Q==>)
is doing is “out of sync with the natural process” by bringing in imported
seeds, which are not adapted to the land and require excessive fertilizer
and pesticides.

In effect, giant agritech corporations with their patented GMO seeds and
associated chemical inputs are working to ensure a shift away from
diversified agriculture that guarantees balanced local food production, the
protection of people’s livelihoods and environmental sustainability. The
evidence provided by GRAIN and the Oakland Institute shows that small
farmers are being displaced and are struggling to preserve their indigenous
seeds and traditional knowledge of farming systems.

Globally, agritech corporations are being allowed to shape government
policy by being granted a strategic role in trade negotiations (see this
<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001vqSOmw-wMu7Pi3ANj45xodqaQ65dNoS-Vgf2xbtJXV1vxxsWx6lLbhHMYCv7K4UCWpEgcnMzS2M2RJipXZ6vLPK012D68tVdxkvdaDlQBFzUSaVtU48TUBZkDLnE0RFrJSAXbNNm347nkXjRoxrAZwk43r8ifINktGJVimcjXdtEpmUGXihubnuNuRXyeBR6xueOcgUBHeTdK7F6eooz12uCCFgUT2M-LMH_0gUCCeUETvXgnDbO9ioTzrhaTKlM0v9D7KMuD_1IdFrDLn6RG80GP5hDRoNy3MvdxWt8_1w=&c=jhzt-0zmOkYzcfE1ZLWhcgQxiCyarWa-U631k7QM9QCNs25d2E_pjg==&ch=994htLXaYUB_j3cEfnWzvkbkmXHOJEVX-oCkkGMWpuXfQ-4z_WZg7Q==>).
They are increasingly setting the policy/knowledge framework by being
allowed to fund and determine the nature of research carried out in public
universities and institutes (see this
<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001vqSOmw-wMu7Pi3ANj45xodqaQ65dNoS-Vgf2xbtJXV1vxxsWx6lLbtQ9S8wEmCddyfGHHS4ST76g_6BRdhRCiiEHeuovmrVfBb1pxeKXr8e5B1k_zFEACPORcTv-t5x7qALHvEvGx6441bR-EryzRnR4wuuzAhMzdPOXbs4ydstesufxgXtzR0-U_YfGaLkztxFXVpe5bBZ6sjbOU3OcHXYb4laBmkzB-_tGNBphZSpjzATmr1bNLfWdwhlh5Gf1FpdhaoDEfaJAEEG25mW_b8RVI2tv7QtPJeCMh26j1O8=&c=jhzt-0zmOkYzcfE1ZLWhcgQxiCyarWa-U631k7QM9QCNs25d2E_pjg==&ch=994htLXaYUB_j3cEfnWzvkbkmXHOJEVX-oCkkGMWpuXfQ-4z_WZg7Q==>).
They continue to propagate the myth that they have the answer to global
hunger and poverty.

“... take capitalism and business out of farming in Africa. The West should
invest in indigenous knowledge and agro-ecology, education and
infrastructure and stand in solidarity with the food sovereignty movement.”
Daniel Maingi, Growth Partners for Africa.

Paterson and his corporate associates believe that the poor must be
‘helped’ by the West and its powerful corporations and billionaire
‘philanthropists’. It harks back to colonialism. The West has already done
enough damage in Africa as Michel Chossudovsky has described:

“The “economic therapy” imposed under IMF-World Bank jurisdiction is in
large part responsible for triggering famine and social devastation in
Ethiopia and the rest of sub-Saharan Africa, wreaking the peasant economy
and impoverishing millions of people. With the complicity of branches of
the US government, it has also opened the door for the appropriation of
traditional seeds and landraces by US biotech corporations, which behind
the scenes have been peddling the adoption of their own genetically
modified seeds under the disguise of emergency aid and famine relief.
Moreover, under WTO rules, the agri-biotech conglomerates can manipulate
market forces to their advantage as well as exact royalties from farmers.
The WTO provides legitimacy to the food giants to dismantle State
programmes including emergency grain stocks, seed banks, extension services
and agricultural credit, etc.), plunder peasant economies and trigger the
outbreak of periodic famines.” See the full article (‘Sowing the Seeds of
Famine in Ethiopia’) from which this extract is taken here
<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001vqSOmw-wMu7Pi3ANj45xodqaQ65dNoS-Vgf2xbtJXV1vxxsWx6lLbhALENbIiVMNhzOmBTqXZ6RxANfRzXDbmuaGKg4h2g3kaVhsYHZ2u-3CbiSuuUvH_aJ0ZlOf7_5ByFZCeX_5J2Mp-hFx-zygOw7xy3NVTfp3rnGiAKLKzs3WIowsjDNMTKVdafrq3sCyzkIBGf7vtIeoP4RVgr4ag7db5wpFgOr2YwmLMtbvArQ=&c=jhzt-0zmOkYzcfE1ZLWhcgQxiCyarWa-U631k7QM9QCNs25d2E_pjg==&ch=994htLXaYUB_j3cEfnWzvkbkmXHOJEVX-oCkkGMWpuXfQ-4z_WZg7Q==>
.

When Owen Paterson accuses critics of GMOs of being elitist and regressive,
he is merely attempting to shift the focus from his own own elitist,
regressive ideology.

Hasn’t the world had enough of the type of Western ‘humanitarianism’ that
Paterson espouses?
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