The Writer's Life: The Writer's Life 6/15

The controversy over genetically modified organisms rages. Almost every day a Facebook friend will post a negative comment and caption about it, usually warning of the evils of Mansanto, the company leading the development. The detractors drown out the supporters considerably. In fact, I don't believe I've seen even one in support. Here are excerpts of a contrarian piece, edited by yours truly, that appears in today's op-ed section of the NY Post. It is written by Owen Patterson, a Conservative member of the British Parliament:
"GMOs can save millions of lives. It’s the environmentalists who are doing real harm. The best example of this is Golden Rice, a miracle grain enhanced with Vitamin A-producing beta-carotene. Developed 15 years ago, it was considered a breakthrough in bio-fortified technology. Today 6000 children will die from Vitamin A deficiency. Each year 500,000 people, mostly children, lose their sight; half of them die within a year of becoming blind. That’s over 2 million children every year, all victims of Vitamin A deficiency. Many of those lives could be saved if Golden Rice were in their diets. But the ongoing opposition of anti-GMO activist groups and their lavish scare campaign with its combined global war chest estimated to exceed $500 million a year have kept Golden Rice off the global market. Deploying highly sophisticated PR and un-scientific scaremongering, Greenpeace has led that opposition. But it hasn’t acted alone. Last year, to Greenpeace’s loud cheers, MASIPAG, a closely allied organization, violently attacked and destroyed a Golden Rice field trial in the Philippines. The group claimed to be a 'farmer-led network,' but local officials reported that its thugs had been bused in from a nearby city. MASIPAG’s list of supporters and partners reads like a directory of European church and government-sponsored social-justice and development groups. And MASIPAG is just one of a proliferating network of anti-GMO groups and assorted activists operating in the developing world, often with EU support. When did so many 'humanitarian' organizations become so disdainful about the lives of the desperately poor? Patrick Moore, one of the founders of Greenpeace in the 1970s, broke with his creation and now works to expose Greenpeace’s actions in the developing world. He’s joined with Golden Rice inventor Ingo Potrykus in calling for putting Greenpeace on trial for crimes against humanity. There are humanitarian and environmental groups that have come to recognize the important role biotech can play in alleviating human suffering and spurring development. Oxfam and the Nature Conservancy were initially opposed to GMOs. In light of overwhelming scientific confirmation of efficacy and safety, both have softened or ended their opposition. Isn’t it time for them to show leadership on this urgent humanitarian issue, starting with Golden Rice? Where also are the UN organizations WHO, FAO, UNICEF — all with nutritional improvement and development mandates? They’ve recognized the scourge of Vitamin A deficiency as a major and cheap-to-control problem for the last 25 years. But, cowed by activist polemic, these institutions have done little to advance the cause. Instead of bashing companies that are trying to save lives, Neil Young and his likes ought to use their star power to convince the NGO community to do the right thing and support giving the developing world the GMO tools it needs to feed its growing and tragically malnourished populations."
This brings to mind the damage the DDT ban has done to Africa, where millions die of malaria or suffer deformities brought by insects borne illnesses. If the right were leading these bans, they would be dubbed racists and haters of the poor. I don't believe these leftists organizations are racist, but their strict adherence to dogma, their all or nothing attitude, has a devastating effect on many.

Mother Nature provided a wide rainless window, which allowed the floating book shop to operate. My thanks to the man and woman who each purchased a novel in Russian, and the lovely young Lit major who bought Gertrude Stein's Tender Buttons and William Blake's Song's of Innocence and Experience.

Vic's 5th Novel: http://tinyurl.com/okxkwh5Vic's 4th novel: tinyurl.com/bszwlxh

Vic's 3rd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/7e9jty3

Vic's Short Story on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/k95k3nx
Vic's Short Story Collection: http://www.tiny.cc/Oycgb
Vic's 2nd Novel: http://tiny.cc/0iHLb Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/kx3d3uf
Vic's 1st Novel: http://tinyurl.com/l84h63j

Vic's Rom-Com Screenplay: http://tinyurl.com/kny5llp

Vic's Horror Screenplay: http://tinyurl.com/cyckn3f

Vic's Blog: http://vicfortezza.blogspot.com/

Vic's Web Site: http://members.tripod.com/vic_fortezza/Literature/