Dr. Shiv Chopra on GM food

He is the worlds most powerful voice against GM foods. He talks about his new book Corrupt To The Core.


"Why did they choose Bt brinjal to market first in India: a simple vegetable that many people do not even like?

Exactly, that is the question. Many people don't eat brinjal, children hate it. Still, why do you think brinjal was chosen to be the first Bt food crop?

This is a very calculated move on their part.

Brinjal is an unimportant vegetable but it belongs to the Solanaceae family, that also has popular vegetables like tomatoes, potatoes and chillies. The Bt gene is capable of spreading to other crops from the same family when it is being blown in the wind. This way, they contaminate the entire food and vegetable supply."

I have read so many authors who hate this guy. I have mixed feelings. There some truth to what he says but he is still a driven by paranoia. There is a huge difference between Rachel Carson and him. Don't confuse GM foods with pesticides and fertilizers. They are two different entities. The inability to distinguish between the them has caused lot of dissonance.

If you haven't seen what hunger is about, you haven't seen much in life. Don't go to Africa, please visit India, stay in "Taj Mahal" hotel and I bet within 500 yards from any hotel, you will have a revelation about human existence. It could have been worse without Norman Borlaugh. Being a romantic doesn't feed the hungry mouths. It takes science to do that. But to be fair to Dr.Shiv and with whatever little knowledge I have, changing the patent laws on GM food can create a win-win situation. Or even better we need open source "Linux" version of GM foods. A guy like Bill Gates understands the importance of GM food. Instead of luring the Monsanto's of the world but he has the potential to create an open source and bring in the worlds agri-intellect to feed the hungry mouths. It's much better than donating money to reserve a seat in heaven.

Agriculture is not a flamboyant  field, hence the young generation cannot be lured. I hope Bono is listening. Dude, find a way to make it "cool" and you can save more lives than you ever dreamed of. In the process, we can save worlds bio-diversity and bid adios to slaughter houses as well. Instead of holding banners, learn and invest in science.