What if we had not done anything to stop genetically modified (GM) Bt brinjal? By now we would have been eating various kinds of GM foods. Thankfully, that’s not true.
Three years ago protests from thousands of us got a moratorium on Bt brinjal.[1] Multinational seed companies like Monsanto and our very own Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar dislike this moratorium. [2] It’s now up to us to ensure that they don’t use the sham of food scarcity to unleash this dangerous technology on us.
Take this poll to show your support for safe GM-free food.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Agriculture [3]and an expert committee appointed by the Supreme Court have recommended a cautionary approach to GM crops.[4] The responses to this poll will create a solid base for the support for safe food and these recommendations as well.
There is enough food being produced by our country. A lot of it is rotting in food godowns.[5] The government is using this to create the notion of scarcity. Inserting genes of other organisms into our crops makes them unnatural and unsafe. Once GM crops are out in the open, they’ll only contaminate other crops. How is this going to secure our food?
The third anniversary of the moratorium on Bt brinjal was celebrated on February 9, 2013, all over the country. It was a reminder, that our consistent opposition to the introduction of this technology has kept it away so far. It has also prevented the government from introducing the BRAI bill, which seeks to ease entry of GM foods.[6] Let’s keep up this fight to protect our food.
So answer this poll now to build a strong support base for safe food.
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