Prince Charles warns of 'disaster' on GM food

[WhiteTara]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080813/ts_afp/britainenvironmentfoodroyals

LONDON (AFP) - The widespread development of genetically modified crops risks leading to the worst environmental "disaster" ever, Prince Charles said in an interview published Wednesday.

Speaking to The Daily Telegraph, the Prince of Wales added that relying on "gigantic corporations" for food production, rather than small farmers, would lead to an "absolute disaster".

"What we should be talking about is food security not food production -- that is what matters and that is what people will not understand," the heir to the throne was quoted as saying.

"And if they think it's somehow going to work because they are going to have one form of clever genetic engineering after another then again count me out, because that will be the biggest environmental disaster of all time."

His comments come amid rising concerns worldwide over rapidly rising food prices -- the World Bank estimates that food prices have almost doubled over the past three years, and its president Robert Zoellick has said two billion people are affected by the food crisis.

The prince insisted he did not want to turn back the clock, telling the newspaper: "It's not going backwards. It is actually recognising that we are with nature, not against it. We have gone working against nature for too long."

Although I deplore his treatment of Diana, the old boy is right.

[Orrex]

1. General Motors should stay the fuck out of the food industry

:mad:

[WhiteTara]

4. lol

okay, you got me! I almost asked, what is General Motors doing in the GM food production.
:rofl:

[Orrex]

5. Glad to have you aboard!

:rofl:
:hi:
:evilgrin:

[gratuitous]

2. Aw gee, Chuck

What could possibly go wrong with messing around with the food supply? And the good folks at the Cato Institute have assured us that large corporations will always operate in a way that produces the greatest good for the greatest number. They wouldn't let millions or billions of people starve. Unless there was money in it, I suppose. But almost definitely, probably sorta not.

[InvisibleTouch]

3. We don't know the long-term effects of genetically warping our crop plants...

...let alone such horrors as "terminator seeds" developed by greedy corporations. Plants can hybridize and evolve very fast; imagine if the "terminator" gene spread into our major crops of its own accord. Makes me think of the "chaos effect" described in "Jurassic Park." Good on anyone who calls attention to such a potential disaster.