Can we end world hunger? This must become one of the driving questions of this decade. I believe that the answer is yes and over the next four weeks will explore the reasons why .While there are more than two sides to this discussion, I feel that in the end, the real debate is between those who believe that "Biotechnology will help increase the yield on limited land." and those who see hunger as a symptom and not a cause.
I decided to devote the next four weeks to examining this question when I was watching the six o'clock news the other night. A Canadian Prairies farmer was expressing his concern about planting genetically modified
canola seeds. He was worried that he would be unable to sell the crop produced. There has been considerable
opposition to genetically modified foods. Their supporters take the first position mentioned above, that biotechnology will increase yield and end hunger. There are those who do
not support this position. They see the technology benefitting the wealthy while the poor grow in number. In short, their argument is, if you want to end hunger, first end
poverty.
The supporters of biotechnology argue that genetic engineering is just an extension of conventional breeding. While others will state that in fact, it
differs . profoundly. I'm firmly in the second camp, end poverty and you will end hunger. One of the ways that poverty can be ended is to move away from the factory farms that are dominating the agricultural scene and develop smaller community-based food delivery systems. More on this later in the series.
Confusing the question is the role that consumer behaviour plays in the process. During the same news segment a potato farmer was concerend that, MacDonalds might not buy his crop, not because they were gentically modified but that they were not perfect. You see MacDonalds, responding to consumer demand has refused to buy any GM food, however, MacDonalds also wants pure, clean ,white potatoes so that they can produce the fries their customers have come to expect. So the farmer, the food producer, is caught, damned if he does and damned if he doesn't. It is this dilemma that generated the thoughts that lead to the series. Agriculture can be the foundation of a healthy economy, however, unless the consumer has a greater awareness of where the food comes from and what is required to get it to the table and is prepared to eat food that may not always look the same but contains the flavour and nutrition necessary, then this may not be possible and can lead to the type of industrial agriculture that we are seeing today. A model that seperates the consumer and producer to the detriment of both, as family farms turn into food factories and experimental labs design our future dinners.
