GM food concerns - more than just 'great din'

Letter from Richard Seah Siew Sai, Straits Times 13 Apr 08;

In his commentary, 'When everything under the sun costs more...' (The Sunday Times, April6), deputy editor Warren Fernandez dismissed concerns about genetically modified (GM) foods without delving deeper into the subject.

These concerns are being expressed by, among others, some very respected scientists, not just by people 'generating a great din, but containing much less substance'.

Mr Fernandez credits the green revolution of the 1960s with enhancing crop yields. While the revolution did increase rice yields, it also led to pesticide poisoning of streams, rivers and coastal regions. It killed marine life and wildlife, and also exposed farmers - and consumers - to toxic pesticides.

Technological innovation is not the only way to increase food production. When the United States imposed a trade embargo on Cuba in the late 1980s, the country could no longer import farming chemicals and was forced to revert to traditional farming.

Within a decade, Cuba solved its food problem - without the cost and toxic pollution associated with chemical farming.

A 23-year study by the Rodale Institute found that 'alternative' farms (such as organic and traditional) are, in the long term, just as productive as, or even more productive than, green revolution farms.

Moreover, promoters of GM foods are not altruistic individuals out to solve world hunger. Some GM technology is, in fact, geared towards increasing crop resistance to pesticides and its effect has been to reduce, not raise, food production.

Mr Fernandez offered a good suggestion to reduce waste.

Here are two more ways:

# Eat unpolished brown rice. When rice is polished, about 10 per cent of its bulk and perhaps 90 per cent of its nutrition are wasted. Asia is estimated to generate 50million tonnes of rice waste each year through polishing.

# Eat less meat. It takes about 14kg of grain to produce 1kg of meat. If the world were to reduce its meat intake by just 10 or 20 per cent, there will be a lot more grain available for feeding humans.

Finally, I refer to Mr Fernandez's suggestion to eat potatoes instead of rice. Despite the rise in the price of rice from $7 a bag to over $10, the fact remains that $10 worth of rice can feed a lot more people, for a much longer time, than $10 worth of potatoes.