FW: GM food and Orissa -- the real story

["wdl@xminy.nl" <wdl@xminy.nl>]

On 6 Sep 2002 at 18:52, Devinder Sharma wrote:

I am shocked to see the report below. More shocking is the shoulder headline: "Do Not 
Repeat the Mistakes of Orissa". 
It looks from the report that some groups in India had blocked food aid to Orissa super 
cyclone victims, which left 10,000 
people dead. 
This is completely wrong, and obviously fabricated and mischievous. But then, when 
was it that the GM 'loudspeakers' had 
told the truth?

Since it involves India, let me put the facts straight. The report below states: "Nor is this 
the first time activist groups opposed f
ood aid shipments. In June 2000, Greenpeace and Shiva's Research Foundation 
attempted to block US food aid to victims 
of a cyclone in the Indian state of Orissa, which left over 10,000 dead. "It is time for 
groups like Greenpeace and Friends 
of the Earth to stop playing public relations games with people's lives and publicly 
condemn these statements and activities," 
said Patrick Moore of Greenspirit." 

In reality, it was not because of blocking the food aid that 10,000 people had died. It 
was because of the super cyclone 
that 10,000 people had died. It should also be clear that there was no dearth of surplus 
food in India at the time the cyclone 
struck. We had nearly 40 million tonnes of food surplus stocked within the country at 
that time. It was the comfortable food 
stocking within the country that had helped rescue operations to meet the food 
requirement of the needy after the cyclone.  

At another place in the report, it is stated: "The AgBioWorld Foundation and numerous 
other organizations, including the
African Biotechnology Stakeholders Forum, AfricaBio, the Center for Global Food 
Issues, GreenSpirit, and International 
Consumers for Civil Society, have challenged activist organizations to formally endorse 
food aid shipments and to not 
repeat the mistakes of 'Orissa.'  "

Can these biotech PR agencies please tell us the mistake that was committed in 
Orissa? If meeting the food shortage 
from the stocks that are held within the country (and mercifully which are also non-GM) 
is a mistake, then I have nothing 
more to say. In fact, countries must learn from the way India handled the relief and 
rehabilitation operations after the 
super-cyclone had done the devastation. We were safe because we were not 
depending upon multinational companies 
for the basic human requirement -- food. We grow our own non-GM food and we are a 
net exporting country. At present, 
India has a surplus of 65 million tonnes, which can feed much of the hungry population 
of the world. But the tragedy is that 
none of the scientific bodies, and that includes the FAO/WFP/USAID, the Nobel 
laureates and thousands of other scientists 
who ride the GM bandwagon, ever appeal for distributing this huge surplus among the 
world's poor and hungry. Their 
concern for the hungry begins and ends with GM crops.    

Let me make it clear: these scientists are not committed to address the problem of 
hunger but their commitment lies in 
meeting the hunger of the private companies for more profits and that too over the 
empty stomachs of 800 million hungry 
who go to bed hungry every night. 

Sadly, the biotechnology industry in league with the WTO is now forcing India to forgo 
self-reliance in food so assiduously 
built over the past few decades. In addition, we in India, like the developing world in 
Africa, Latin America and South Asia, 
are being forced to follow the American model of farming. And is that the right answer 
for sustainable farming and 
development? I have tried to answer that in my essay "Sustainable farming: Faulty 
Lesson from America". The essay is 
available at: http://www.fpif.org/outside/commentary/2002/0208indiafarm.html


Devinder Sharma 
New Delhi 





SCIENTISTS APPLAUD LIMITED ACTIVIST SUPPORT FOR GM FOOD AID
'Do Not Repeat the Mistakes of Orissa,' They Challenge

Auburn, AL September 5, 2002 - A group of scientists and agriculture
experts led by the AgBioWorld Foundation are applauding recent activist
statements supporting genetically-modified food aid from the United States,
which has been refused by some African leaders despite the risk of millions
dying from starvation. The group also challenged these and other activists
to act responsibly and stop spreading misinformation about foods grown
using biotechnology.

Greenpeace's Annette Cotter told the Wall Street Journal, "When it comes to
famine, telling anybody not to eat GM food in this situation is a position
we absolutely can't take." Juan Lopez of Friends of the Earth said, "We're
not saying no to GM foods in the middle of the famine." Unfortunately,
these messages conflict with other statements by the same organizations and
are not shared by their various allies. Even though the rejection of food
aid has been widely condemned, many activist groups, including Friends of
the Earth Malaysia, Vandana Shiva's Research Foundation for Science,
Technology and Natural Resource Policy, the Institute of Science in
Society, and the Third World Network, continue to oppose the shipments.

"It is refreshing to hear that some environmentalists are no longer willing
to sacrifice the lives of desperate people in order to further their own
agendas," said Dr. C.S. Prakash, Tuskegee University plant genetics
professor and president of the AgBioWorld Foundation. "But it is tragic
that many others are still unconcerned by the consequences of their
actions."

"The world is standing by as southern Africa may experience more deaths
every day than all those lost on September 11," said Professor James
Ochanda, chairman of the African Biotechnology Stakeholders Forum, based in
Nairobi, Kenya. "Providing cover to those who use famine for political
means and scaring starving millions into believing that the same food eaten
by well-fed and wealthier nations is unsafe is having dire and inexcusable
consequences."

Nor is this the first time activist groups opposed food aid shipments. In
June 2000, Greenpeace and Shiva's Research Foundation attempted to block US
food aid to victims of a cyclone in the Indian state of Orissa, which left
over 10,000 dead. "It is time for groups like Greenpeace and Friends of the
Earth to stop playing public relations games with people's lives and
publicly condemn these statements and activities," said Patrick Moore of
Greenspirit. Moore, a founding member of Greenpeace who now opposes the
organization's tactics, added, "They should urge their members and allies
to stop compounding the impact of this and other crises by politicizing
life-saving food aid."

The AgBioWorld Foundation and numerous other organizations, including the
African Biotechnology Stakeholders Forum, AfricaBio, the Center for Global
Food Issues, GreenSpirit, and International Consumers for Civil Society,
have challenged activist organizations to formally endorse food aid
shipments and to not repeat the mistakes of 'Orissa.' A coalition of
African scientists also urged southern African countries to accept
donations of genetically modified food aid during the ongoing World Summit
on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg.