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Politics : World Affairs Discussion

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To: pie-faced-mutt who wrote (1652)8/27/2002 3:36:14 AM
From: GUSTAVE JAEGER  Read Replies (1) of 3959
 
Re: Do you believe that the EU's suspicions of genetically-modified foodstuffs as unwarranted?

Yes I do. The EU's current predicament is its overcapacity in agricultural products --both in terms of workforce (7+ million farms) and food supplies. That's why the EU's enlargement process came to a standstill, after all. Poland, with still 25% of its workforce in agriculture is gonna disrupt the so-called CAP (Common Agricultural Policy). Besides, France is a major agribusiness/foodstuff exporter (groupe Danone, a.o.).

So, the only way out for Europe's bloated agribusiness is access to overseas outlets: China, with 1.2 billion people to feed, India with close to 1 billion people, etc. And BANG! here comes the bad news: those underdeveloped Chinks --who in the seventies were still on the brink of famine-- have taken on biogenetics!! Not only will they be able to become self-sufficient in addressing their food demand but they'll scrap their pesticide imports altogether!! And guess who used to supply them with pesticides?? Here's the story:

Message 17264043
Message 17211710

Of course, that's not the way the whole Frankenfood hoax is spun to old-age Europe --God forbid! Hell no, agro-luddites got a much better sales pitch: they'll freak us out with stories about mutant bugs, human genetic disorders and whatnot... But, as an eminent geneticist observed, five hundred years ago, the potato was introduced in Europe (from South America). So, if agro-luddites are right about a DNA-contamination of traditional crops (fragments of DNA wafted over nearby crops) then what of DNA-contamination by potato fields --a totally alien vegetable in Europe up until 1550??!? (*)

Gus

(*) Message 16029244
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