Senators forcing flawed GMOs on developing world
Action group says senators are forcing flawed GMOs on the developing world
Examiner.com (USA), 12 July 2009
http://www.examiner.com/x-5148-LA-Environmental-Health-Examiner~y2009m7d12-Action-group-says-senators-are-forcing-flawed-GMOs-on-the-developing-world
The full petition to stop the Casey-Lugar Bill, Senators Casey (D-PA) and Lugar (R-IN), which requires GMO technology to be part of the U.S. agricultural research agenda abroad can be found at CREDO Action http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/casey_lugar_gmo/?r=4176&id=4894-2079274-S5P8Gix.
PETITION EXTRACT
Tell your senators: Monsanto can't feed the world
Despite all the hype, GMOs have simply failed to deliver: there is no evidence that exporting this technology to the developing world will actually boost productivity. A recent analysis by the Union of Concerned Scientists found that GMOs have had almost no impact on crop yields in the United States.
http://ucsusa.org/food_and_agriculture/science_and_impacts/science/failure-to-yield.html
Further, GMOs have little to offer drought-prone regions like Africa. Simply put: there are no drought-tolerant GMOs currently on the market. The only two GMO seed traits available -- sold by the biotechnology giants Monsanto and Bayer CropScience -- are herbicide tolerance and pest resistance for a handful of commodity crops like corn, soy and cotton. And not only are the existing seeds expensive but the use of these seeds would also tether poor farmers to the synthetic pesticides and fertilizers GMOs require.
Dedicating millions of dollars in aid money to biotechnology companies also reduces the funding available for proven agro-ecological systems and infrastructure improvements that are more appropriate for small and limited-resource producers.
Tell your Senators that the path out of poverty isn't through Monsanto's doors. Ask them to oppose Casey-Lugar and any development aid bill that promotes GMO technology.
To learn more go to the Credo Action page http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/casey_lugar_gmo/?r=4176&id=4894-2079274-S5P8 Gix.