> The push for nutrient-dense GMOs is a recent trend, says Kathleen Hefferon, a microbiologist at Cornell University. The first wave of GMOs were for staple crops that were easier to grow.
> "There was a real push of trying to achieve food security for a lot of populaces in developing countries and usually that involved making these staple crops that grew better, such as rice and corn and wheat and things like this," she explained.
> A transgenic papaya was introduced to combat a virus that was destroying the crops in Hawaii. It's largely credited with saving the industry on the islands. There were also crops to increase nutritional value for populations in developing countries. Golden rice was developed in the late 1990s to have more beta-carotene to combat Vitamin A deficiencies. Because of practical and regulatory issues, the crop never took off.
> The trend now is for biofortified foods, like the Purple Tomato.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monsanto_Canada_Inc_v_Schmeise...
That bit in India also sounds horrible.
That's a lot of 'seems' that ignores that last hundred years or so modern farming and the case law around seed patents that has existed since the 30s.
> As children, before we're taught economics, we learn farmers plant seeds to grow corn to feed us. Suing the farmer for planting seeds hurts this very basic role we learned as kids.
Generally anytime someone's argument is based around an appeal to emotions, you can be they aren't dealing with reality and logical thinking. Doubly so when you're talking about planting corn when discussing a case about canola.
In practice it became impossible to keep BT corn out of the food supply. With corn as a staple crop and the international trade in corn everyone on the planet became a test case.
There was controversy on the impact of corn pollen on non-target species, including monarchs and lady-birds/lady bugs and bees. Follow-up studies didn’t show significant impact in quantities likely to be encountered in the field.
All GMs have risk of pollen drift and the risk of gene spread. Farmers growing non-BT corn for export may have their crops rejected in some markets if contaminated. Corn cross pollinates with a genetic ancestor of corn in South America which is considered a weed because it can cause domestic corn kernels to not develop properly. There is some risk of gene transfer and creating a “super” weed.
https://ejbpc.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s41938-018-0...
I suppose in theory we can put every nutrient needed known to man in a grain of rice one day.
But just because you could, does it mean you should? I suppose this opens up a much more broader discussion of morals, ethics and potentially alogical topics of conversation.
Iodine enrichment of salt achieved much the same in so many countries.
...And remember kids "It's easier to meet the people where they are!"
I think you're the one proposing to supply "Vitamin A enriched foods (carrots, sweet potatoes, spinach, kale...?)", which they may not know how to grow, transport, store, or cook.
As if no one has ever thought of this and it's just that simple.
Yes.
Unfortunately there are special interest groups who have twisted public opinion.
Over 1 million kids die every year due to Vitamin A deficiency. Some of these groups are trying to ban Golden Rice, GMO rice infused with viatamin A (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/may/25/...).