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RIPR is a (paper) newsletter
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- Feb 08 (30) - IRS migration data,
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Our economic dependence on high health care spending. Review of
Crashing the Gate
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property tax assessment, random state budget notes.
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- Aug 04 (6) - MTBE and well pollution, Mathematical problems with property taxes
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- Mar 04 (4) - FY05 RI State Budget Critique.
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- Apr 03 (1) - FY04 RI State Budget critique
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Responsibility:
 Tom Sgouros
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Sun, 27 Mar 2005
Corn defiled in Mexico
I try not to harp on genetics all the time. But when the news comes
as fast and furious as this, it's hard to help it, even when
(especially when) all the articles are relegated to the back pages of
the news section. It's as if people are willing to say that the
existence and health of the food crops we eat is important, but, well,
not as important as, say, Michael Jackson's trial.
It
appears
that engineered genetic modifications have been found in some corn
in Oaxaca, in southern Mexico. This is a big deal, because that part
of Mexico is where corn comes
from. The natural ancestor of corn was came from there, and
the crop is quite diverse there, too. This is one of the important
wells from which we draw the food crops we eat. And now it's been
fouled.
Fortunately, the fouling doesn't seem harmful, or very bad, but
it's fouling nonetheless. When salt shows up in your well, you don't
worry about your health (too much) but you worry about the health of
your water supply. What happened once with a benign gene can happen
again with a less benign gene, especially since, as the article put
it, a Mexico government report suggested measures to prevent a repeat, and:
The United States' response to the report was immediate and
blistering. It called the report "fundamentally flawed" and argued
that the recommendations did not flow from the panel's scientific
conclusions and undercut provisions of the North American Free Trade
Agreement. "If implemented, these recommendations would unnecessarily
limit Nafta farmers' access to high-quality U.S. corn exports, as well
as the environmental benefits that biotech corn provides," a statement
read.
Ok, it's good for business to sell corn to Mexico. But who is
looking out for the interests of corn? We pretend we know all the ins
and outs of corn genetics, but it's just not
true. Why do we allow corporations (which
don't themselves eat) make decisions for us about such fundamental
matters of health as food?
17:18 - 27 Mar 2005 [/y5/ma]
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