In following the biotech debate in
America and Europe, I've been frequently repelled by the smug,
neocolonial attitude of affluent Westerners who are trying to dictate
agricultural policy in developing nations by funding anti-GMO
activities there.
So while we were traveling through
India, we frequently asked farmers: “What would you say to people
in the west who believe biotech crops are harmful and you should not have
access to them?”
Not one farmer voiced support for
outside interference in India's agricultural policies. Instead, they
invariably said farmers should decide what they want to grow. Here
are some of the farmers we met, and some of the other comments we heard (though the person pictured didn't necessarily make that particular quote.)
“Those who say this are not actually
connected to the crops. We live in the crops all the time and I have
seen no ill effects on myself or my animals.”
“I have been paying attention to
television events and debates. I hear voices against this good
technology from people who have nothing to do with the crop.”
“Prior to Bt cotton I was a frequent
visitor to the hospital. Now there's no need. They have made some
false claims, but I am happy with Bt.”
“If Bt comes in all the crops, that
would be good.”
“If a technology like Bt brinjal
comes along people will be adopting it because any day you can get
more for brinjal than other crops.”
“With the profits of Bt my children
go to a good school and I was able to pay for my mother's [medical]
treatment.”
“If seeds have an in-built capacity
to resist pests, that would be welcomed by any farmer.”
“Some people say Bt is spoiling the
soil. That is a belief of some. The farmer has heard this, but if Bt
brinjal [eggplant] will lessen the number of sprays, I am ready to
accept it.”
“I am waiting for the Bt brinjal. We
cannot continue this crop with so much spraying. After two, three
days, my skin is itching and I feel nausea. Sometimes I feel like
maybe I am going to die.”
“What we think is if we get Bt
brinjal our costs will be less and spraying will be less.”
“I would like to see Bt cotton that
can also resist herbicides.”
Posts
21 comments:
http://rt.com/news/206787-monsanto-india-farmers-suicides/
http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-seeds-of-suicide-how-monsanto-destroys-farming/5329947
It's not GM seeds but rural money lenders who charge 20-30% interest, compounded daily, who drive deeply indebted farmers to suicide. It's really disappointing, but not surprising, that Vandana Shiva isn't working to halt this predatory lending rather than capitalize on it to promote her own anti-gmo agenda.
Joan, the corporation paying for your junket must be happy with your one sided reports. Of course when you are a subsistence farmer with little education any short term gains in profitability would look desirable. You have not reported on the fact that these GMO seeds can not be saved by the farmer, that they cost many times more than non GMO seeds to purchase. You and the farmers are not thinking about the resistance that the insects are developing to these systemic insecticides. You are not reporting on the testing that was done showing that BT eggplant is not safe to eat. It seems you are doing just what you are being payed to do.
@1:00 PM, the Shill Accusation Syndrome (SAS) is strong with you...
I understand it's easier to try and discredit the messenger than adjust your own misperceptions, but there's strong support for biotech aming farmers in Jndia.
And guess what? All farmers everywhere want to make a profit. What you don't seem to understand is this: these farmers were already buying hybrid seeds every year; the value they've received from the Bt cotton and costs saved in pesticides have made the seeds worth their higher cost, which is only nominally more than conventional hybrids, and farmers are well aware that pests develop resistance to insecticides that are applied topicly, as well as systemically. There is no legit study showing bt brinjal is unsafe to eat, but there is evidence that consuming brinjal heavy sprayed with insecticides up to the day of harvest is harmful. My trip was not funded by a corporation, but you're right, I am doing what I was paid to do. which is gather information directly from farmers rather than rely on the lies put forth by anti-gmo groups, many of them funded by European pesticide manufacturers who don't want to lose business.
1PM- Cotton and Corn seeds are hybrids- a cross of two different varieties- regardless if they are GMO or not you need to buy new seed every year to take advantage of hybrid vigor (30 to 50% more yield out of a crop). This technology has been around since the 30s'. Every farmer has the right to chose the seed they buy, as you do with cool smart phone, you can chose an iphone 6 or you can chose a nice ol brick.
The analysis was done by Dr Lou Gallagher - an epidemiologist from New Zealand. The data shows that rats fed with Bt brinjal experienced " organ and system damage and had ovaries at half their normal weight, enlarged spleens with white blood cell counts at 35 to 40 per cent higher than normal with elevated eosinophils, indicating immune function changes". Toxic effects to the liver were seen in the form of elevated bilirubin.
http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/bt-brinjal-can-damage-liver-&-hit-immunity-of-a-human-being./1/126821.html
As I said, there is no legitimate study showing that Bt brinjal is unsafe to eat. The citation you note is in a newspaper akin to the National Inquirer. Dr. Gallagher's analysis was not independent, but paid for by Greenpeace.
Unless your goal is to disseminate propaganda, I suggest you broaden your education. Start by reading this article by Dr. C. Kameswara Rao, who states:
"It is non-toxic to all organisms with an acidic stomach and with no binding sites for the crystal protein, which includes all mammals and non-target organisms."
http://www.fbae.org/2009/FBAE/website/presidents_corner_anti-ge-activism-in-india-targets-bt-brinjal.html
Additionally, the University of California at San Diego reports:
"Bt products are found to be safe for use in the environment and with mammals. The EPA (environmental protection agency) has not found any human health hazards related to using Bt. In fact the EPA has found Bt safe enough that it has exempted Bt from food residue tolerances, groundwater restrictions, endangered species labeling and special review requirements.
"Humans exposed orally to 1000 mg/day for 3-5 days of Bt have showed no ill effects. Many tests have been conducted on test animals using different types of exposures. The results of the tests showed that the use of Bt causes few if any negative effects. Bt does not persist in the digestive systems of mammals."
http://www.bt.ucsd.edu/bt_safety.html
Joan I really appreciate you sharing your experiences in India. It's been very educational and relieving actually. There is a lot to be learned from India. Have you ever heard of Sadguru? He speaks a lot on politics and has a very advanced perspective on things that are very relatable to us here on Kauai and probably everywhere. One of my favorite talks of his is called "moving India". Aloha!
so shiv comes here to get into our issue Joan goes to her country to get into hers. Joan admits as it is coming right fro the farmer that the pesticides are making them sick. bt cotton has the pesticide is inside the plant bt is not legal in India it hasn't been released to farmers yet and that came straight from Joan so no one has any idea how billions of people will be affected by it, but hey what a great petrie dish they got there huh?
Plus the guys got the monopoly on the seed. so far, Joan has reported that spraying makes farmers sick that are not using protective gear, that the company and middlemen have a monopoly in the seed that caused suicides. Also the chems they are spraying come from the companies that make the seed. So yah they really care. also that there is only one side to the story. the gmo side
overall pretty hypocritical but thats just my opinion its Joans gig.
5:32 -- Your comment is so full of misinformation and ignorance that it's hard to know where to start. Bt cotton is indeed legal in India. The Bt pesticide is very different from the broad spectrum pesticides used to control other pests, in that it is specific to the boll worm. It's not going to harm you unless you're a boll worm. And as I noted in a previous comment:
"Humans exposed orally to 1000 mg/day for 3-5 days of Bt have showed no ill effects. Many tests have been conducted on test animals using different types of exposures. The results of the tests showed that the use of Bt causes few if any negative effects. Bt does not persist in the digestive systems of mammals."
So the do know how it's going to affect the billions. It won't.
The chems they are spraying come from many different companies, not just the one that makes the Bt cotton seeds.
And Shiva came to the U.S. on a propaganda mission, staging talks to present a certain point of view. I went to India to ask questions and gather information, not disseminate my own point of view. There's a difference. My purpose was to hear from farmers, and I'm reporting what i found. They like Bt cotton and they want Bt brinjal. But neither are seen as silver bullets to solve all the may issues they face.
Rule #1 Establish Rapport "Your comment is so full of misinformation and ignorance that it's hard to know where to start."
@12:04 PM, when has the person Joan is responding to, or any of the anti-GMO/anti-pesticide activists, ever tried to establish rapport in good faith? It's like demanding transparency from those you contest, while being secretive, disingenuous and hypocritical. Remember, when you point a finger at someone, there are three fingers pointing back at you.
SO then why Joan do you not also ask questions and gather information from farmers who do not think that Bt is a good idea or are farming other crops or doing other things, and how their standard of living is.
I do 9ot see happy smiling faces I see poverty wither its BT since that seems to be what you are writing about. Boll worm or no Boll worm, if that crop is something you are exposed to day after day and consume day after day every day of your life, like the people if India who have sub par diets do, you cannot in your right mind tell me that ingesting pesticides either way won't harm you.
You quoted one single study. No one knows how this is going to affect the largest concentrated population on earth.
An I have the right to say I do not want it created in my back yard. Do it somewhere else.
I did ask questions and gather information from farmers growing a range of crops, which pretty much all farmers do in India. They don't mono crop.
You don't seem to realize that about 97% of the cotton grown in India is Bt, and that's by the farmers' choice. No one is making them grow it. They grow it because they want it, and because it's given them more $ than non-Bt cotton. And no people are consuming Bt cotton, though their cows forage in the fields, and farmers tell me they have seen no ill effects in their animals or their milk.
As for the rest of your comment, you obviously have your mind made up, and nothing is likely to change it.
SO your comments about why they want it because spraying the stuff was making them sick and going to the hospital, and the chemicals they are spraying are coming from the companies that are making the seed so they are making money fro both ends. Where was the company that made the seeds and the chemicals when these people were getting ill and in the hospital Joan? Where were they then? Where was the integrity/ This is why you extolling the virtues of these companies when they re also creating products that have made these
people sick and ill people like me find very disgusting.
You trust them when they obviously have created products that have harmed people. Yet you have complete faith in the.
Do you see my point at all? You are sitting there talking to the very people that are telling you pesticides made them sick an ill.
I just do not get why you support them.
You know what would change my mind? Those comings stepping forward and admitting they made these people sick and ill with their products. that they will pay fr each and every person that they harmed. that they will build them a house, and supply the with everything they need for the rest of heir lives because they damaged and harmed them.
And that they will never make products that twill harm these people again.
That would change my mind.
Go back and read. I have not been extolling the virtues of these companies or supporting them. I have shared why farmers want their products, including the pesticides that made some of them ill, which they all still use. And please get off your purer than thou high horse. Have you never bought a plastic bag or any other product made by, say, DOW?
I could ask you the same thing. If You give me the flu when i come to you for a cure for my arthritis, then tell me i need a medicine to cure the flu that will make the arthritis better what would you do? You would buy it .And I would make a profit at both ends.and it cures the flu a little and makes the arthritis go away a little but doesn't cure either one .And both are your fault.
so you make out and the other guy loses no matter what.
that is exactly what is going on in India.
why not do more of a story how people were getting sick over there, and this is and was created by the very people causing the problem the first place
You went all that way to get answers. You got them.the biggest smoking gun in the world that finally proves these chems are harmful people were being hurt and the companies did nothing but create yet another product to get more money from these poor people.
I mean come on the farmers literally told you 'bt will send me to the hospital less which will give me more time in the field!" Wow. if I heard that would be so on that if I were an investigation reporter. If I was really after the truth 'Thank you for making me less dead. your product is awesome
come on, Joan you know better.
The problem here is that you know nothing at all, as evidenced by your kooky "reasoning." You've overlooked a key factor: the pests that both pesticides and the Bt technology are trying to control. Unless you believe the companies created them so they could sell pesticides and Bt seeds.
@2:16 PM & preceding posts, you clearly know nothing about agriculture, India, or even reality for that fact. Try to wrap your mind around the fact that there are many causes to the problems the poor in India face, and most of those causes are home-grown and cultural, not some imaginary corporate boogeyman.
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