Vatican studies genetically modified crops

[didymus]

NCR :

Vatican studies genetically modified crops

Sandwiched amid Pope Benedict XVI’s trip to the Middle East and President Barack Obama’s commencement address at Notre Dame, a behind-closed-doors “study week” in Rome sponsored by the Pontifical Academy for Sciences on genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, has so far flown largely below radar.
Yet the May 15-19 event could help drive the Vatican toward a pro-GMO stance, disappointing some social justice activists, as well as a cross-section of Catholic bishops and theologians, who see genetically altered crops as risks to the environment and human health as well as a boondoggle for giant agribusiness corporations.

The driving force behind the study week is Ingo Potrykus, a German-born scientist credited with being the inventor of “golden rice,” a genetically modified rice plant which produces high levels of a precursor to vitamin A. Proponents claim that “golden rice” could save up to a million lives a year, mostly in the developing world, from illnesses due to vitamin A deficiency, but others charge its benefits have been over-sold. Potrykus is a Catholic and a member of the Academy of Sciences.
The formal title of the study week is “Transgenic Plants for Food Security in the Context of Development,” which is taking place at the headquarters of the Pontifical Academy for Sciences in the Vatican’s Casina Pio IV.

“Spinwatch,” an independent body in the United Kingdom that monitors the role of public relations, has described the study week as a “total farce,” charging that the speakers are “all GMO supporters, with many well known for their extreme pro-GMO views or having vested interests in GMO adoption.” A May 13 release from the group asserts that several speakers have financial ties to Monsanto, an American agricultural company that is the world’s largest producer of genetically engineered seed.
In an April 19 issue of the Irish Catholic, environmental writer Fr. Sean McDonagh, a Columban missionary, charged that the Academy of Sciences event is “silent” about the role that “massive profits” for biotech companies play in influencing pro-GMO arguments.

Hmm . . . I’m not sure why the Vatican really needs to define a policy on this issue.
According to the article several bishop’s conferences, esp. in the third world have come out against GM food.

 

[wapsi]

Hmm . . . I’m not sure why the Vatican really needs to define a policy on this issue.

According to the article several bishop’s conferences, esp. in the third world have come out against GM food.

Perhaps because these bishop conferences were subject to political pressures, i.e. fear mongering by special interest groups?

 

[kyria]

NCR :

Hmm . . . I’m not sure why the Vatican really needs to define a policy on this issue.
According to the article several bishop’s conferences, esp. in the third world have come out against GM food.

I am all for genetically modified foods, however I think there are more important issues within the Church to deal with that the Vatican could focus their time on.

 

[turtle18]

probably because genetically engineered food is incapable of producing seeds…Genesis says God gives us dominion over all seed-bearing plants.

 

[wapsi]

probably because genetically engineered food is incapable of producing seeds…

The makers of GMO seeds wish that were true, but it isn’t true. One of the complaints of organic farmers is that pollen from nearby fields with GMO crops can drift over and fertilize/contaminate their own plants.

And Scott’s Miracle-Gro, in 2007, was fined by the US government when a genetically modified trait they were testing was found in fields of native and non-native grasses up to 13 miles away.

 

[Vanessa]

Perhaps because these bishop conferences were subject to political pressures, i.e. fear mongering by special interest groups?

Perhaps they’re concerned about all the thousands of farmers committing suicide in India when their cattle died after eating the cotton silage, like they have for years. Why haven’t you heard about this in the media? “So Shankara became one of an estimated 125,000 farmers to take their own life as a result of the ruthless drive to use India as a testing ground for genetically modified crops” dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1082559/The-GM-genocide-Thousands-Indian-farmers-committing-suicide-using-genetically-modified-crops.html

Perhaps they’re concerned that the farmers are now poorer because they can’t save their own seeds but must buy them each year.

Perhaps they’re concerned that the gmo crops are not putting out the harvests promised.

Perhaps they’re concerned that dna and life can now be patented and the moral and physcial ramifications of that on the people of the world.

Perhaps they’re concerned with the diseases that seem to be caused by gmo plants.

Perhaps they’re prayerful men and the Holy Spirit told them to be concerned.

 

[wapsi]

Perhaps they’re concerned about all the thousands of farmers committing suicide in India when their cattle died after eating the cotton silage, like they have for years. Why haven’t you heard about this in the media?

Because the Western media doesn’t care too much about Indian problems. In truth, the problems of farmers committing suicide has been reported and as I recall even discussed here at CAF once before. There seem to be multiple reasons for the suicides, it is unfair to pin the blame on GMO crops:

Analysts cite several factors for the suicides, including crop failure due to agrochemicals and climate change, lower prices due to U.S. farm subsidies, state restrictions on export trade, and the dumping of surplus crops in an oversaturated domestic market.

“The phenomena of indebtedness will recur as long as policies to depress agricultural prices continue,” said Sharad Joshi, founder of Shetkari Sanghatana, a leading farmers’ rights organization.

Ironically, many farmers are facing a backlash of their own remarkable transformation.

In the 1960s, India underwent a green revolution in favor of high-yield farming to counter acute food shortages. Plant breeding, irrigation development and the use of synthetic fertilizers ramped up production. Today, India is a major exporter of rice, and the world’s second-largest producer of fruits and vegetables after the United States.

The changes caused higher operating costs and production that created a market glut exceeding demand at home and abroad. To remain in business, many farmers were forced to take out loans at high interest rates. Once credit had been exhausted, they turned to private lenders, who charged even more exorbitant interest rates.

And that’s when the suicides started, most activists say.

commondreams.org/archive/2008/03/23/7831

 

[didymus]

John Allen of the NCR is covering the conference & has interviews with Prof. Bruce Chassy, an advocate of GM foods and Fr. Sean McDonough, a missionary opposed to GM.

Prof. Chassy interview

Fr. McDonough interview

I don’t agree with everything the good Father says but a lot of food for thought there.
Otoh, I only had to read a couple paragraphs in to see the professor was lying in his teeth.