GMC (generically modified crops) memang dilarang masuk
oleh pemerintah-pemerintah di Eropa. Sedang di
Amerika, bukan pemerintah yang melarang tapi para
ethicists.
Mengapa Eropa mati-matian tidak mau menerima GMC?
Satu, mungkin mereka takut GMC membahayakan kesehatan
dan merusak lingkungan hidup. Kalau hanya itu
sebabnya, tunggu saja beberapa tahun lagi setelah
terbukti bahwa kekhawatiran itu tidak terbukti, mereka
akan mengijinkan GMC. Kedua, mungkin Eropa ingin
melindungi petaninya, yang sekalipun prosentasenya
secara demografis kecil tapi sangat berpengaruh dalam
politik. Seperti diketahui, perselisihan antara
Inggris dan Perancis/Jerman di UE dari dulu sampai
sekarang menyangkut CAP (Common Agricultural Policy)
yang menyedot dana besar-besaran untuk menjamin harga
pangan (gandum, buah dan susu) tetap amat tinggi.
Tanpa subsidi besar-besaran, petani Jerman dan
Perancis dijamin collapsed. Lain halnya petani di
Inggris, Irlandia dan Belanda. Itulah yang dimaksud
dengan kebijakan yang politically-motivated, bukan
kebijakan berdasarkan hard science.
Roma adalah tempat kedudukan FAO (UN Food and
Agriculture Organization). Jadi sudah tepat kalau
dubes Amerika bicara mempromote penerimaan GMC disana.
Dengan GMC, food defisit tidak perlu ada dan jutaan
orang lapar di Afrika dapat kenyang. Dengan GMC,
lahan pertanian di Amerika dan Eropa dapat diciutkan
dan jadi hutan kembali dan effect pemanasan bumi jadi
berkurang. Tapi sayang, tujuan yang indah dan mulia
saat ini masih dihambat oleh orang yang
greed-motivated.
Salam,
RM
--- Ambon <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Biotech food for the hungry
> Jim Nicholson IHT Saturday, October 2, 2004
>
> Fruits of science
>
> VATICAN CITY The number of people who die of
> starvation dwarfs the number who die from terrorism.
> Last year, 625 people died from terrorism; 10
> million from starvation. Every five seconds someone
> dies for lack of food; 25,000 people will die of
> hunger today. So just as we must explore every means
> to defeat terrorism, we must also explore every
> means to meet the most basic need of every human
> being - food.
> .
> As the largest provider of food aid in the world,
> the United States is just as committed to the
> struggle to feed the hungry as it is to the struggle
> against terrorism. But we want to do more than
> provide handouts. We want countries to be able to
> feed themselves.
> .
> With this in mind, the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See
> recently sponsored an international conference in
> Rome to examine the potential of biotechnology to
> help meet this challenge of hunger. Scientists,
> farmers from developing countries, senior government
> officials and theologians spoke in broad agreement
> that biotechnology is an indispensable tool to meet
> the world's growing demand for more food. The
> Pontifical Academy of Sciences, the Pope's
> scientific advisory board, joined with us in trying
> to seek the truth and dispel myths about biotech
> foods.
> .
> Dr. C.S. Prakash, an Indian-born scientist whose
> research has increased the nutritional value of the
> sweet potato fourfold, told the conference that half
> of sub-Saharan Africans are malnourished today, a
> figure that is expected to increase to 70 percent by
> 2010. He said that world population growth has
> reduced the amount of arable land, making greater
> agricultural productivity a necessity: "We must
> produce more food with less land, less water and
> less chemicals."
> .
> Biotechnology can do this.
> .
> The best assessment of biotechnology's potential
> came from farmers themselves. Sabina Khoza, a South
> African maize farmer, and Edwin Paraluman, a corn
> farmer in the Philippines, told us that their yields
> and incomes are up, and their use of harmful
> pesticides is down.
> .
> Unfortunately, the ability of farmers such as Khoza
> and Paraluman to take advantage of this new tool has
> been severely restricted in many countries by
> widespread resistance based upon misinformation
> about biotechnology safety - misinformation sown by
> ideologically motivated groups and nurtured by EU
> trade protectionists.
> .
> These critics continue to claim that biotech foods
> are unsafe despite the fact that millions of
> Americans, Canadians, Australians, Argentines and
> other people have been eating genetically modified
> food for nearly a decade - without one proven case
> of an illness, allergic reaction or even the
> hiccups.
> .
> Activists even convinced African governments facing
> drought-induced famine in late 2002 to return tons
> of World Food Program corn because it was produced
> in America using biotechnology. Better to die than
> eat the food that Americans eat every day.
> .
> For those who question the morality of
> biotechnology, suggesting that it is unnatural, the
> scientists pointed out that mankind has been
> genetically altering food throughout human history.
> In fact, almost none of the foods we consider
> "natural" today exist in nature; all have been
> genetically modified for human use.
> .
> In exploring the potential contributions of
> biotechnology, the United States and the Holy See
> are very aware that world hunger has many causes:
> poverty, drought, disease, armed conflicts,
> inadequate transportation and government corruption.
> All play their part in this tragedy, and all must be
> addressed if we are to end hunger and malnutrition.
> .
> But biotech foods, now the staple of choice for
> America and millions of others, ought to be allowed
> in Africa to mitigate the plight of people suffering
> from starvation. There is not one shred of
> scientific evidence to suggest otherwise.
> .
> Ensuring all men their daily bread is the best way
> to promote the dignity of humankind. Biotechnology
> offers a scientifically sound means to feed the
> world's neediest. As Dr. Peter Raven, one of the
> world's leading genetic scientists, explained, "to a
> mother in a famine-struck region of Africa, the
> disease she and her children suffer from is hunger,
> and the cure is food."
> .
> That is why sharing the fruits of biotechnology with
> those who hunger is a moral imperative. The
> conscience of all committed to the common good
> should demand it.
> .
> Jim Nicholson is the United States ambassador to the
> Holy See.
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been
> removed]
>
>
------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~-->
Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar.
Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free!
http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/BRUplB/TM
--------------------------------------------------------------------~->
***************************************************************************
Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg Lebih
Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. www.ppiindia.shyper.com
***************************************************************************
__________________________________________________________________________
Mohon Perhatian:
1. Harap tdk. memposting/reply yg menyinggung SARA (kecuali sbg otokritik)
2. Pesan yg akan direply harap dihapus, kecuali yg akan dikomentari.
3. Lihat arsip sebelumnya, www.ppi-india.da.ru;
4. Posting: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
5. Satu email perhari: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
6. No-email/web only: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
7. kembali menerima email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia/
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
