Patrick Nguyen

M.Flower
Frinq essay
02/07/15

Concerns of GMOs

In the summer of 2002, African countries were on the brink of food shortages due to
complex combination of factors, including climatic shocks, HIV/AIDS, structural adjustment,
debt, collapsing public services, and poor governance. Non famine programs like USAID sent
international reliefs to multiple countries. The world food programs (WFP) developed financial
resources to feed hungry populations in Lestotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Zambia
and Zimbabwe, And South Africa. However, in October 2002 the relief effort took an
unexpected twist, as the governments of Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe rejected
US food aid because of concerns over the inclusion of genetically modified foods. World Food
Program tried to help but quickly rose to discussions. European and American debates over
trade in genetically modified organisms (GMOs) to expand to find a solution for Southern Africa
and other nations. The relief effort became awkward due to surrounding agricultural
biotechnology and genetically modified food (technological advancements in the field, also the
understanding of the matter). As the pro- and anti-GMOs lobbies each moved to outflank the
other to capture the good and bads of GMOs. The US Agency for International Development

(USAID), who discussed that anti-GMO African groups of countries are putting millions of
lives at risk in a despicable way. Those opposed to GMOs countered that the United States was
exploiting the Southern African famine as a public relations tool to improve the bigger image of
agricultural biotechnology use in foods in the United States. Having been unable to capture
popular support for their products of GMO food, particularly in Europe, companies who
produced GMO was now eyeing at Southern African and other countries crisis to gain trust,
sympathy for genetically modified organisms. According to the article The case for GMOs in
Uganda drought is a serious thing for their agriculture. Plants and crops dwindle up across the
nation and the only way to solve the solution is to introduce GMOs that would help with
drought. In the article there was this quote: Extreme weather incidences such as these Uganda,
manifested in the form of severe drought and floods, have become more frequent in recent years,
resulting in reduced national agriculture production. The soil is exhausted and due to financial
limitations most of the farmers are unable to access huge yield of foods, fertilizer or to carry out
irrigations.-The case for GMOs in Uganda Uganda suggested that they need a new product
and they are willing to find a new product that can live to the standard of their environment ( hint
hint GMOs?). Uganda also included this quote saying about their revenue and the need of
pesticides: Ugandas annual income of 550 million production of bananas had reduce to 350
million according to Jerome kubiriba, head of the Banana Research project. Due to the
centralization of bananas in Uganda, pest cause diseases has proven incurable for crop
destruction to spread across Uganda. Uganda Bureau of statistic, GMOs production is
declining due to increasing incidences of diseases and insect infestation have cause 70% or more
in crop loss. -The case for GMOs in Uganda The need for pesticides increase exponentially
in the Ugandans communities. Ugandan want desired crops that would be adaptable for their

soils, which in this case they would be willing to try GMOs crops. But for the first parts of the
paragraph, Some African counties do not want Food Aid from American countries due to
GMOs which leads to viewpoints of the people and what the people would do to survive.
Another case of the Ugandan referred by Michael J Ssali states that Uganda is a country that has
issues with food related issues such as malnutrition. Many of the nutrition that Ugandan eat are
to fill their stomach up but doesnt have the necessary nutrition to support themselves. Many
vitamins are loss due to lack of food such as iron, zinc, B6 and vitamin A. More than two million
people die a year due to lack of vitamin A, but this can be preventable with stable food source.
This is also another reason why the Ugandan accepts GMOs because GMOs make the food that
they grow like potatoes taste better and but also increases the nutritional value of that potato
(More for less).
Pesticides are one of Americans key to striving in the agricultural department especially
GMOs. In earlier times they were a protection against fungi and insect pests. The great increase
in the use of pesticides occurred with the development of new organic chemicals in different
regions to prevent diseases and creatures like nematocides, herbicides, rodenticides, avicides,
defoliants, wood preservatives, etc. The use of chemicals helped GMOs increase productivity,
but caused great concern about their effect on human health and safety. On the other hand,
chemicals did help tremendously from the standpoint of protecting against diseases that were
carried by insects, especially mosquitoes etc... Adverse publicity has caused great concern about
pesticides and society has undergone great changes from an agricultural society to an industrial
society, so the viewpoint changes throughout the generations as time pass. In the article online
the Front Lines of Hawaiis GMO Wars many farms and public areas are too close to one
another therefore the article talks about the people viewpoints: Last year, the American

Academy of Pediatrics released a statement on children and Pesticide exposure, citing scientific
evidence linking early life exposure to pesticides to preterm birth, neurological defects, low birth
weight, asthma and cancer. Representatives for the biotech companies have said repeatedly that
pesticide Applicators follow federal and manufacturer guidelines to prevent exposure to the
public and use the chemicals only when necessary. But activists and parents such as Chun want
more information. With pesticides exposure high in Hawaii, many childrens at an early age get
neurological defects. Many of the symptoms are often mistaken like heat exhaustion, food
poisoning, asthma, and other illnesses are sometimes confused with pesticide poisoning. People
will think that its a cold or something, til the point where theres no return. Large GMOs key
element of the pesticide strategy is to go on the offensive by creating an elaborate appearance of
being out in front and taking a lead role in saving bees but in the end will not give a crap.
They will just want to fill their pockets up with money. Another way would be to master at
inventing diversions, to ensure the public wouldnt place blame where it belonged. The idea is to
create uncertainty. For example smoking doesnt harm anyone right now but it will later on etc
The large companies can always lie their way out of things like blame it on wind or something.

Many laws in the United States were passed and enforced to help prevent huge uproar in
the communities. Many laws were passed but only one stands out in the article online the Front
Lines of Hawaiis GMO Wars. The Bill 2491 is a piece of local legislation that has become the
most divisive controversy that the Garden Island's 67,000 residents have seen in years. The bill
specifically targets Syngenta, Dow Agrichemical, Dupont-Pioneer and BASF.
With new pesticide regulations requiring they publicly disclose the details of pesticide

Sprays, observe buffer zones around schools and hospitals, and comply with an environmental
impact study. The Kauai Coffee Company, which operates a large farm on the island, is included
in the bill, but other agricultural operations are exempt. The five companies are not the only
firms use pesticides on Kauai, but they do use 98 percent of the "restricted use" pesticides
sprayed on the island. Federal law demands, these chemicals only be applied by, or under the
supervision of, workers, who, like Michael, have certified training. The seeds produced and
developed at the biotech testing, farms are not considered food products, and some are
genetically engineered to tolerate patented pesticide formulas; so the biotech firms can use more
chemicals on their experimental development plots than traditional farms. According to the slim
amount of data available in state records, the biotech companies purchased a combined total of
5,447 pounds and 4,324 gallons of 22 different restricted-use pesticides to use on the
Island in 2012 alone. This quote suggested that the companies with pesticides are certainly
trying to minimize pesticides in GMOs crops but the certain protocol and the trained employees
are of huge demand so some of the employees dont know what to do when expose to pesticides.
With inexperiences workers they should lower the amount of pesticides sprayed because in the
quote a lot of gallons are used but they dont know how to act when they get exposed to it. Even
though pesticides are misused, the outcome of the pesticides are better yield in production.

Therefore I believe that GMOs isnt a bad thing to have but the way big cooperations
and manufactures uses these method is what makes the people have a negative viewpoints on
GMOs. Other countries dont agree on GMOs also is because the majorities of 167 countries
dont agree with the growth of GMOs. If we were to educate how GMOs are good but the
people who uses GMOs products are using it in a bad way, then the people would blame the

companies not GMOs. I understand why pesticides are used but there should be a regulation of
when and where to use it. How far away farms have to be from the publics. It would be safe to
say that GMOs modify natural foods to give them an advantage in nature, by enhancing them to
live and grow in harsher conditions but also give more nutritional values to the people. Farmers
could also grow more of the product and it will lower cost for the people which makes them not
malnutrition. People just need to be more educated and accept the facts that people need to eat,
not starve.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1871678410005145
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S030691920400065X
(Symptoms of pesticides http://psep.cce.cornell.edu/Tutorials/core-tutorial/module09/index.aspx)
http://www.commondreams.org/views/2014/04/28/follow-honey-7-ways-pesticide-companiesare-spinning-bee-crisis

Citation
"Download PDFs." GMO Foods and Crops: Africa's Choice. Web. 7 Feb. 2015.
<http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1871678410005145>.

"Download PDFs." Feeding the Famine? American Food Aid and the GMO Debate in Southern Africa.
Web. 7 Feb. 2015. <http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S030691920400065X>.

"Symptoms of Pesticide Poisoning." PSEP. Web. 7 Feb. 2015.

<http://psep.cce.cornell.edu/Tutorials/core-tutorial/module09/index.aspx>.

"Follow the Honey: 7 Ways Pesticide Companies Are Spinning the Bee Crisis." Common Dreams. Web. 7
Feb. 2015. <http://www.commondreams.org/views/2014/04/28/follow-honey-7-ways-pesticidecompanies-are-spinning-bee-crisis>.

Oniro, Tom. Does Uganda really need GMOs? (May 2, 2014): 2-4. Print.

Ssali, Michael J. The case for GMOs in Uganda (September 11, 2014): 4-7. Print