GM soy: The invisible ingredient 'poisoning' children
- “Soy destroys people’s lives,” she says. “It is a poison. It is no way to live. Soy is deadly to us”.
- 11 year old son dies of by genetically modified soy
- The golden crop looks like a bumper harvest but for her it is a symbol of death.
- The son got sprayed by one of the mosquitoes (the spraying machines behind a tractor).
- For people living around Genetically Modified soy fields spraying with chemicals is a common occurrence/
- The boy was violently sick, he kept telling his mu, that his bones ache, and his skin went black.
- By the time they arrived in the city Silvino ( the son) was paralysed, all the doctors could do was administer pain killers, while his mother wiped the foam from his mouth. In a few hours he had died.
- For the family it was clearly a horrific death was caused by chemical intoxication but in their grief no autopsy was ever carried out.
- After years of campaigning that Petrona (the mom) managed to get the case to court. Eventually two local farmers were convicted of causing the death, though it is unclear whether they have ever been sent to prison.
- Petrona is sure of one thing, that her son’s death was caused by GM soy and we should listen to her because we are eating it.
- Every single supermarket in Britain stocks meat and dairy from animals fed GM soy.
- Leading brands including Cadbury, Unilever and Dairycrest, also use products from livestock fed GM.
- Likely at least one item of food you eat today will have come from an animal fed GM soy, whether it was the milk on your cereal or the bacon in your sandwich.
- Paraguay, a landlocked country in the heart of South America, is on the front line of the new craze for growing ‘green gold’
Interrelated
| Environment | Political | Social | Economic |
| Health effects from genetically modified food to not only the environment but the people as well. | When a developing nation does protest against GM foods, the results can be politically controversial. In 2003, Zambia refused GM foods primarily maize from the food program developed by the United Nations. The result was that the population was left without aid, leading to disastrous results given that there was a famine. | Potential human health that has an impact on, including allergens, transfer of antibiotic resistance markers, unknown effects | Bringing a GM food to market is a lengthy and costly process, and of course agri-biotech companies wish to ensure a profitable return on their investment. |
| Harm to other organisms within the habitant. showing that pollen from B.t. corn caused high mortality rates in monarch butterfly caterpillars. | Ignored cases that deal with this problem is causing criminals to get away with death and letting them do it again. | New advances may be skewed to interests of rich countries. From big wealthy companies ruining the lives of farmers by taking their jobs. | Many new plant genetic engineering technologies and GM plants have been patented, and patent infringement is a big concern of agribusiness. |
| Reduced effectiveness of pesticides. mosquitoes developed resistance to the now-banned pesticide DDT, many people are concerned that insects will become resistant to B.t. or other crops that have been genetically-modified to produce their own pesticides. | Taliban insurgents often inflate casualties inflicted on Afghan government forces and foreign troops. | The poorer are getting poorer while the rich are getting richer from genetically modified food products. Causing poverty amongst the people of developing nations that are depleting jobs. | Patenting these new plant varieties will raise the price of seeds so high that small farmers and third world countries will not be able to afford seeds for GM crops, thus widening the gap between the wealthy and the poor. |
| Gene transfer to non-target species. Crop plants are engineered for herbicide tolerance and weeds will cross-breed, resulting in the transfer of the herbicide resistance genes from the crops into the weeds. | | People of developing nations are losing things like farming that has been in their family for generations. This isn’t fair to lose a part of which you’ve done your whole and it is causing distress to the people of the nations. | Farmers are losing their jobs and their life to these companies coming into their country. Causing them to be unemployed and losing hope in their country and justice, as they feel its not fair they lose their life for people to make money off of their living. |
Controversial
| How the issue Got Started? | How the Issue can be Resolved? |
| Genetically modified foods originated in the 1940s but progressed the most when it hit the 1970s. It all started with a tomato to make it ripen faster and when that was a success they then moved on to other foods to increase revenue. Recently their new target is the soy plantations in Paraguay. From their rich soil, the booming soy, the “invisible ingredient” was the main aspect for companies trying to get rich. Soy was now in everything, at lease one item of food you eat today will come from animal fed GM soy. Therefore this isn’t just an isolated problem, it is a world issue creating problems all over the world. Is it far for companies to get rich while people are suffering on a everyday basis. | This issue can be resolved by putting more government restrictions on companies and hat they do to food. Obviously this is killing people, and ruining peoples lives. Everyday families in these countries have to risk in each day in wondering if they will be poisoned. What is more important life or money? Right now it is money as the common saying is “ money is what makes the world go round.” However this much change and allow governments and police to get involved and put in polices that disallow this action of genetically modifying food to make a profit sooner. Even though the demand is high, we need to look as it is everywhere and people are dyeing so, where are our priorities? |
My Opinion
With genetically modified food, there are both pros and cons on the subject. In my mind, I think that genetically modified foods can be good in certain circumstances. On one hand it is an excellent way to combat hunger in many third world countries but on the opposing side, health and environmental ramifications of genetically modified food can pose a risk that makes people consider the worth of his endeavour. As seen in the article above, genetically modified food has the potential to pose great health risks, so serious human life can ultimately be put in jeopardy. Another example of this health risk is Golden Rice in China. About 7 years ago, a company in China modified rice. This was seen as a great benefit because it was more cost effective. But then reports of poisoning started to show up on the news. This was quickly investigated by the Chinese authorities and also by other world authorities, and was found to be a direct link to the Golden Rice.
Now that we can see the negative effects of GM foods, I would like to talk about my view of the positive aspect of them. In third world countries more and more GM foods are being used to feed the hungry. When genetically modified foods are produced they can be sold at a cheaper price because more is produced. This fact makes it possible for people that have a lower economic status to buy the food that they need to keep they and their families alive.
So in the end, my view on this is both good and bad. I like the fact that they can feed masses for cheaper thus combating world hunger, but on the other had the health risk that becomes a facor of these products can and sometimes do out way the pros.
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