Is Europe’s stance on GMOs selfish?

The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion and analysis.

. . . .[A] very harsh report in the most recent issue of Trends in Biotechnology. . . authored by a team of Canadian researchers led by Stuart Smyth . . . declares that the European Union has essentially ignored the United Nations’ plea to increase global food production 70% by 2050. How so? By overwhelmingly rejecting biotechnology.

. . . . As NewScientist indicates, this will have little practical effect within the confines of Europe since it was hardly growing any GMOs in the first place. . .

. . . .

. . . . But Europe’s decision . . . affects everybody. Farmers in poor countries, who make some of their money by exporting crops to Europe, could certainly benefit from the proven yield increases and profits that GMOs allow. However, the EU can (and does) reject shipments if even a trace of unapproved GMOs is detected, so many farmers essentially have no choice in the matter. To keep European bureaucrats happy, these poor farmers accept less advanced technology and lower profits.

. . . .

Of course, what does the EU care? For the most part, Europe is wealthy and well fed, and its native population is shrinking . . . .

Read full, original post: Europe Doesn’t Care if Poor Countries Have Food or Money

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