Alfred Vella, Żminijietna - Voice of the Left, Valletta
Malta must be GMO-free
The fight against the influx of GMOs in countries of the European Union is an ongoing battle where on one side you have the environmentalists, the left block and the greens and on the other side you have big multinational companies trying to penetrate the European market to gain control and flood the agricultural sector with GMOs, the same as what is happening in the bio fuel sector in Third World countries.
In this situation, Żminijietna - Voice of the Left greatly regrets that European Commissioner John Dalli gave his approval for the cultivation of a genetically-modified potato, known as Amflora. We fear that Mr Dalli bowed to pressure that has been exerted since 2003 by the multinational company
BASF to infiltrate the European market and cultivate and produce Amflora. It is to be noted that the government of Cyprus has urged the European Commission to declare Cyprus a "GMO-free zone". The Cyprus government rightfully claims that "due to the geography of the country, being a small island, any cultivation of GMO products makes it easier to infect the flora of the island".
Żminijietna calls on the Maltese government and the MEPs to follow this example and for the same reasons insist within the EU to declare the Maltese islands a "GMO-free zone". We also demand that Mr Dalli act in favour of a social and ecological Europe, free from GMOs and not give in to pressure from the giant multinationals.
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Noel Abela
Mar 25th 2010, 10:51
@Paul Smith
Starve to death? If the GMO seed companies are so intent on feeding the world, why do they 'terminate' their seeds and make the farmers dependant on their seeds and pesticides for ever? Organic farming on the other hand enables them to save seeds from one year to the next. Its only problem is that it does not bring in any billions to the corporations.
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The American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM) has called on all physicians to prescribe diets without genetically modified (GM) foods to all patients.1 They called for a moratorium on GMOs, long-term independent studies, and labeling, stating,
"Several animal studies indicate serious health risks associated with GM food, including infertility, immune problems, accelerated aging, insulin regulation, and changes in major organs and the gastrointestinal system.
…There is more than a casual association between GM foods and adverse health effects. There is causation…"
Former AAEM President Dr. Jennifer Armstrong says,
"Physicians are probably seeing the effects in their patients, but need to know how to ask the right questions."
Renowned biologist Pushpa M. Bhargava also believes that GMOs are a major contributor to the deteriorating health in America.
Paul Smith
Mar 16th 2010, 18:41
Without GMO many countries will starve to death - fact. When you factor in, water scarcity, the ever increasing price of ferts and pesticides and the fact that Peak Oil has arrived (getting a lot of play on BBC TV Now) also see: www.theoildrum.com Malta is a net importer of most of it's food stuffs and has water scarcity issues as well as underground water drying up, anyone in Malta that objects to GMO is living in a fantasyland.
C.Xerri
Mar 16th 2010, 15:35
@Alfred
We're all going to DIE, we're going to DIE, Waaahhhh.
Oh come on man, stop playing hysterical and start reasoning with your head. Embrace technology or go live in the mountain of afganistan like we used to do 10K years ago. (ok Africa, but just the same).
Do you know that most of the food you eat already is not in its natural state anyway? Fruite and veggies are full of artificial vitamins and insecticides. Tinned food is full of preservatives, cheese, ham etc.. (again full of preservatives).
change the name from Zminijietna to Nahlu Zminijietna fil-vojt.
Stefan Vella
Mar 16th 2010, 14:48
@Alfred
Do you also believe the world is flat?
Developing new technology comes always with an inherent risk. If we, as a species, did not accept this risk, then we would still be living in caves.
Christian Sciberras
Mar 16th 2010, 11:54
Actually, Amflora is the "dangerous" substance and not the produced plant.
Other then that, shouting "no to GMO" is simply unacceptable.
How can I agree with a party (Zminijeitna) with regards to a dangerous substance when they profess doomsday issues related to a method (genetic modification)??
How can I agree that killing people is wrong when the others agreeing to it actually agree animals in general shouldn't be killed?
Conflict of interests, that's all it is.
I agree to the dangers of amflora, especially remembering the Maltese aren't particularly technologically conscious, however, I will never agree to Zminijietna's barrier against modern science, technology and progress.
Alex Ellul
Mar 16th 2010, 11:51
@Alfred Vella: How are we going to feed 10 billion people in ten year's time? Any ideas?
Alex Ellul
Mar 16th 2010, 11:47
In the news (TOM) today:
An international team of scientists has managed to transfer disease resistance from one plant family to another, offering broader protection from potentially costly and destructive pests.
A team..at Britain's Sainsbury Laboratory found that transferring a single gene from a wild plant to disease-susceptible crop plants made them more robust against infections like bacterial wilt and other diseases.
If the results can be duplicated more widely, they could help prevent massive crop losses and avoid environmental, health and financial costs associated with using pesticides, the researchers wrote in the Nature Biotechnology journal.
"The implications for engineering crop plants with enhanced resistance to infectious diseases are very promising," Sophien Kamoun, head of the Sainsbury Laboratory, said in a commentary.
The team is already extending its work to several crop plants, including potato, apple, cassava and banana - all of which suffer from damaging bacterial diseases, particularly in the developing world.
@Alfred Vella: The above is a GMO development. Please do not adapt the attitude of the ignoramuses wh, in the past, opposed all scientiific developments. What our governments must do is to separate the scientific wheat from the chaff.