Marie Claire is a popular magazine read by many educated and socially conscious young women in Australia. My daughter Caroline has just drawn my attention to page 170 of the November 2005 issue where readers are told to ‘Say No to Genetically Modified Food’. There is a link to the Greenpeace true food site.
Interestingly the paragraph in the magazine begins “Genetically engineered (GE) foods might mean your vegetables last a bit longer, but there is growing concern about the long-term environmental and health effects of this technology.”
But hang on, there are no GM/GE vegetables for sale in Australia!
Perhaps the most available GM derived product in Australia is vegetable oil from GM cotton seed. Australian cotton farmers that grew GM varieties last season, used on average 88 percent less pesticide than farmers who grew conventional varities.
Exactly how and why is GM bad for the environment? I can only see benefits in the technology?
Those who oppose GM technology, including on the basis that corporate farms are bad, may like this site … http://www.themeatrix.com/ .
The video is compelling and check out the expression on the pig’s face when he decides to join the crusade.
Jennifer Marohasy BSc PhD has worked in industry and government. She is currently researching a novel technique for long-range weather forecasting funded by the B. Macfie Family Foundation.
Four legs good, two legs better.
And what about the ‘environmentally’ friendly organic farming methods requiring the use of more land and copper sulphate applications which increases the number of antibiotic resistant bacteria in the soil?
The factory farms have probably got much better control on what goes in and what goes out of their pigs or chooks. I for one would prefer the bacon and eggs I eat to have come from a pig and a hen that has been kept under lock and key than from an animal that has roamed around freely to pick up contaminants in the soil or diseases like bird flu from wild animals.