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Thursday, 18 June 2009 15:46 |
The Huffington Post Green Page featured an opinion piece on June 17 authored by Paula Crossfield (managing editor of civileats.com). It points a critical finger at biotechnology and the 'Green Revolution' for just about every problem she perceives with agriculture and food production today. That's rather obvious from the title - All That Glitters Is Not Gold: Biotechnology Has Failed Us, So Why Promote It Abroad...
Now, let's just step back for a moment. The only ones who say it's failed are the anti-biotechnology messengers who make attacks against the science without backing it up, often using outdated or unsubstantiated claims that have gone nowhere over the years. These are generally the same folks who fall into the "professional protester" crowd who supplanted NIMBY (not-in-my-backyard) with BANANA (build-absolutely-nothing-anywhere-near-anything) when something doesn't fall into their belief system.
Who would likely know more about the benefits agricultural biotechnology can offer?
The 13 million farmers around the planet - more than 90% who are small and resource-poor, who have adopted the scale-neutral technology and planted over harvested over 2 billion acres of biotech crops - according to the ISAAA?
Or someone who is: "…a regular contributor to the Huffington Post’s Green Page and is a contributing producer at 'The Leonard Lopate Show' on New York Public Radio where she focuses on food issues..." and "is currently tending a vegetable garden on her roof in the Lower East Side" of Manhattan in New York City?
The millions of folks actually on the ground know more about the benefits agricultural biotechnology can provide.
Anyone who chooses to garden has their place - whether it's on an urban roof top, a backyard, the White House and whether it's modern or organic. Gardens can feed families and neighborhoods, but they can't produce enough to feed the world. Don't confuse gardening with farming because they are not the same thing.
Faced with the challenges of feeding a growing global population, humanity needs all tools at our disposal. Agricultural biotechnology is one of tools. There's room for organic and modern methods too. It's not one without the other, there needs to be room for them all. Farmers everywhere need to have the choice to determine what works best in the area they live and the conditions in which they farm.
To read or respond to the column at the Huffington Post click here.
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