GMO Foods – The FAQs The American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM) issued a statement on Genetically Modified Foods. “GM foods pose a serious health risk in the areas of toxicology, allergy and immune function, reproductive health, and metabolic, physiologic and genetic health.” Because GM foods pose a serious health risk the AAEM calls for a moratorium on all genetically modified foods. What are the facts? The Non-GMO Shopping Guide has put together a list of FAQs, frequently asked questions and the answers to those questions, based on information in the AAEM statement. There has been no testing for safety of GMOs in the human diet. Testing and observation of animals fed GMOs reveal serious health problems including “infertility, immune dysregulation, accelerated aging, dysregulation of genes associated with cholesterol synthesis, insulin regulation, cell signaling, and protein formation, and changes in the liver, kidney, spleen and gastrointestinal system.” The AAEM cites the studies and calls for a GMO food moratorium. READ MORE: GMO Foods – The FAQs | Food Sovereignty Ghana foodsovereigntyghana.org/gmo-foods-the-faqs/ Genetically Engineered Bt Cotton In Ghana: The Hidden Agenda Exposed After several years of apparent short term success in Burkina Faso of Bt cotton in increasing yields, and improving profits of small scale cotton farmers, authorities in Ghana have decided to go down the same road. Ghana’s National Biosafety Committee (NBC) has just approved field tests of GE rice in the Ashanti Region, and GE cotton field tests at 6 different locations in the Northern Region. Bt is bacillus thuringiensis, a pesticide used to control bollworms in cotton, and stem borers in rice. Why is Ghana looking only to the short term gains of Burkina? Why not also look at the much longer term experience of Bt cotton in India, China, the USA, and Indonesia? In all of these countries, there is evidence of huge problems arising from Bt crops after the first few years. There is an alarming record of growing dependency on agribusiness corporations, reduced profits, increasing debt of small scale farmers, and major environmental safety hazards. Is Ghana naively following bad advice from agribusiness corporations and their NGO and diplomatic agents? Currently, West Africa has the enviable record of producing some of the best cotton in the world with the least use of pesticides and without genetic engineering. Introducing Bt cotton will put this at risk. Cotton and rice farmers in Ghana can easily recount the constraints limiting their production and profits. But none of these priority problems can be solved by introducing highly controversial GE hybrid seeds… Read more: foodsovereigntyghana.org/genetically-engineered-bt-cotton-in-ghana-the-hidden-agenda-exposed/ Ghana, Join the EU and India, Say No to GMO! It has been a while now since we called for a moratorium on GM foods in Ghana. We are surprised that apart from the US Embassy, no government official has even thought it fit to react to our demands, even though there has been a groundswell of a strong public support for our demand. In the light of the announcement by Monsanto Corporation, to withdraw applications for GMOs in the EU because of the non-acceptance on scientific grounds and rejection by civil society, we take this opportunity to reiterate our call for a moratorium on GM foods in Ghana. This position has been further strengthened by the recent recommendations by the Technical Experts Committee of the Supreme Court of India. It must be recalled that India was one of the countries which embraced genetic engineering in their agriculture. Thus they have enough experience to draw the appropriate lessons and evaluate its usefulness for their people and their environment. What they have to say about it should be of interest to us here in Ghana. It is therefore highly significant that a scientific committee comprising some of the best brains in India are recommending an indefinite moratorium on GE crops. The 6th Africa Agricultural Week Is Not About Science The Science of Agribusiness Profits, versus Science for Healthy, Chemical-free, Patent-free food… The 6th Africa Agriculture Science Week was held in Accra last week July 15-20. Many of the people attending Science Week are good people with very good intentions. They want to develop African agriculture and make sure no one goes hungry. Many of the sessions listed in the agenda appear very relevant. For example, there are sessions to discuss ways to have a more gender sensitive approach to agriculture, improving access to micro-finance for small holder farmers, exploration of how ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) can assist in promoting more sustainable and productive food production. Despite this, we have a deep concern that our efforts in sub-Saharan Africa to use “science” for the benefit for a more climate smart, resilient and productive agriculture, that improves food nutrition of small scale farmers in particular, is being heavily distorted and influenced by well-funded information campaigns of the big agro-chemical companies, such as Syngenta, Monstanto, Dupont, Bayer, and more. Many agricultural organizations in Africa, such as AGRA, FARA in Ghana, and their partners, are generously funded by these giant corporations, by the governments that host and sponsor them, and by the foundations such as Gates and Rockefeller that invest in them… Read more: foodsovereigntyghana.org/the-6th-africa-agricultural-week-is-not-about-science/ US Embassy Must Be Open And Transparent On GMO Debate In Ghana Following our call for a ban on the importation, cultivation, consumption, and sale of genetically modified foods and crops in Ghana, until the people of Ghana are satisfied that such an important and irrevocable decision is a sound and proper one to make, Food Sovereignty Ghana has received an invitation from the US Embassy in Accra to a CLOSED DOOR “Roundtable Discussion and an Interdisciplinary Presentation on biotechnology at the US Embassy on July 10”. After a careful deliberation we have decided to turn down the invitation because it does nothing to advance our cause for a public debate on the issue. We believe that it is of primary importance for the general public to know and evaluate the arguments for and against the introduction of GMOs into our food chain. We have decided to issue this statement to call on the US Embassy to join us in our call for openness and transparency in this very important national conversation by engaging us PUBLICLY. We hereby announce our readiness to critically examine every single claim in favour of GM technology… Read more: foodsovereigntyghana.org/us-embassy-must-be-open-and-transparent-on-gmo-debate-in-ghana/ Statement Calling For Moratorium On GM Crop Cultivation In Ghana Ghana must urgently place a moratorium on the cultivation, importation and consumption of genetically modified foods. We are making this appeal as a Ghanaian grass-roots food advocacy movement, after credible reports of the start of cultivation of GM seeds in the country. Our group calls for the need for Ghanaians to clearly understand the full implications associated with the cultivation of genetically modified foods before embracing the technology. Various statements from the Ministry of Agriculture, and other agencies indicate that Ghana is poised to roll out its first row of genetically modified seeds into our food chain. This is totally unacceptable. We take this opportunity to sound the warning that if Africans fail to get our act together, GM patent domination of our agriculture could be far worse than the combined effects of Apartheid, Colonialism and Slavery! Remember the words of Kissinger, “Food is a weapon”! Read More: foodsovereigntyghana.org/statement-calling-for-moratorium-on-gm-crop-cultivation-in-ghana/
Posted on: Thu, 29 Aug 2013 18:03:14 +0000
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