Sunday, February 07, 2010

BT Brinjal and Env concerns on food thrown away in US.

Bt cotton was the first transgenic crop to be released in India in the year 2002. There has been a lot of controversy surrounding Bt cotton. Its performance, impact on the environment, biodiversity and health of cattle has been widely debated.

Now comes BT Brinjal - the genetically modified crops in India with the controversy. If cleared for human consumption, Bt-brinjal will be the first GM vegetable crop approved for cultivation anywhere in the world. However, how safe is it? Controversial debates and decisions yet to be taken, prime concern is health of humans and the food that we eat is almost getting adulterated and harmful. Public health and potential benefit to farmers with pro and anti opinions stirring in with verdict to comeon 10th February.

Well, I read a comment somewhere "we must educate the public never to eat it and will arrange to distribute traditional brinjal plants to save the seeds for next generations through terace cultivation etc where cross polination from bt can be avoided." - thoughtful, eh!

10 States Govternments say 'No' to BT Brinjal and have decided not to allow in their states. I guess, the Gandhian philosophy of 'home made - Swadeshi' is being revived some way.

Well, this week's Environment question related to US :

What are the environmental implications of all the food we throw away here in the United States? - Mike Schiller, Cambridge, MA

"According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Loss Project, Americans throw away more than 25 percent -­ some 25.9 million tons -­ of all the food we produce for domestic sale and consumption."

A fisherman friend of mine told me that trout populations in the Interior West of the U.S. are already shrinking due to global warming. Is this true? And what is the long term prognosis for the trout? - Jon Klein, Portsmouth, NH

I wonder, how much Indians worry about the food waste at the major marriage functions with multiple cuisines and the genetically to modify products like BT Brinjal?
How much do we educate our children on food and their eating habits? Rather a concerned topic and almost overlooked!
- ilaxi patel
Editor, http://www.kidsfreesouls.com/

Newspaper for Kids

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