Genetically Modified Foods Debate Continues in US and UK
"This ongoing controversy, and the unresolved issues which lie behind it, justifies our continuing support to a call for a moratorium on commercial applications of GM crops," says Christian Aid
The effect of Genetically Modified (GM) foods on the environment and the impoverished has been a main topic of concern for Christian groups this year. In light of the controversies surrounding GM technologies, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA), the National Council of Churches and the Catholic Church all released statements urging Americans to take a closer look at both the benefits and the detriments of GM foods. Similarly, the United Kingdom-based Christian Aid released an extensive statement raising questions about the safety of GM technology and calling for a moratorium on commercial applications of GM crops to allow time for the issues to be “further researched, discussed, agreed, and implemented” on a global scale.
Christian Aid’s November 15 statement is a follow up on a May 1999 booklet published by the organization, entitled, “Selling Suicide: Farming, False Promises and Genetic Engineering in Developing Countries.”
“This ongoing controversy, and the unresolved issues which lie behind it, justifies our continuing support to a call for a moratorium on commercial applications of GM crops to allow time for the issues to be further researched, discussed, agreed and implemented, not only at the national level but globally, particularly in terms of how they affect developing countries,” CA wrote.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
The benefits of GM products are obvious: crops can be made stronger to resist drought, floods and pests, and can also be modified to become larger and faster-growing. Crop yields can increase through the technology, and the need for chemical fertilizers can decrease. Some have even labeled GMs as the panacea of world poverty and hunger.
However, according to Christian Aid, “it is not at all clear whether or not such benefits can or will be delivered without accompanying and unacceptable costs, either in terms of the technology itself or in terms of how it is controlled. Nor is it clear what the balance of benefits and costs might be, or, most importantly, for whom.”
Christian Aid looked toward the costliness of GM crops and the possible environmental, ecological, health of nutritional effects of such crops as a reason to seek alternative approaches to agriculture, which are “cheaper and more sustainable for small-scale and resource-poor farmers.” Additionally, CA took note of a case in 2002 where the United States government and the World Food Program allegedly tried to blackmail the Zambian government out of a non-GM food aid offer.
In light of such controversies, Christian Aid announced that it’s constituents:
- oppose increasing corporate control of agriculture and the global food supply
- urge caution in the introduction of GM crops before their effects are clearly understood
- press for time for adequate debate and for democratic decision-making and local control in developing countries
- uphold the right of countries to choose to receive non-GM food aid
- press for (and provide) more support to small farmers in developing countries to grow food in sustainable ways appropriate to their circumstances and needs.
For more information on Christian Aid and the GM debate, visit: http://www.christian-aid.org.uk/news/index.htm
