Originally published April 28 2015
Pro-GMO shills flee the Philippines after angry farmers demonstrate against Golden Rice
by Jennifer Lilley
(NaturalNews) While GMO shills such as former Greenpeace co-founder Dr. Patrick Moore and Microsoft tycoon Bill Gates continue to applaud the use of chemicals and technology to alter food, farmers in many areas refuse to accept the so-called benefits that these items offer. While GMO advocates are bent on forcing the technology on mass populations, choosing to instill health fears in people's minds rather than engage in common sense debates on the matter, many farmers are putting their foot down.
In other words, farmers aren't accepting the "my way or the highway" view that is so common among many GMO shills.
One particular hot topic where this is perhaps most evident is the issue of Golden Rice.
GMO advocates say this kind of rice is made to produce beta-carotene, and therefore, it's essential to help those with vitamin A deficiencies. They hold tight to the blindness that colud develop, running around citing scary statistics such as the 200 million vitamin A-deficient children. Their focus -- for now -- is on the residents of the Philippines and India, where they say the rice must be delivered.(1)
Golden Rice advocate suggests the food is a matter of life and death
Moore, who is leading the Allow Golden Rice! campaign, says that Golden Rice is so incredible that it can save lives. "If Golden Rice were a cure for cancer, malaria, or Ebola," he says, "it would
have been approved 10 years ago. In that time 20 million people, mostly children, have died." He then takes a stance often heard from GMO opponents, saying that "this is a crime against humanity."(1)
Wait a minute. NOT wanting to allow GM foods in certain regions is a crime against humanity? Sounds like backwards, twisted thinking to us. The crime is their development and consumption in the first place.
But it gets worse. Moore was even so brazen as to ask Greenpeace, the organization for which he once worked, to consider making Golden Rice an exception to their GM crop oppositions. He says, "millions of lives are at stake."(1)
Indeed, there are many people afflicted with vitamin A deficiencies. But Greenpeace India is quick to point out that Golden Rice is not the answer; it's not as life-changing as Moore suggests.
GM rice not the answer, "may generate new problems"
"GE 'Golden' rice does not address the underlying causes of Vitamin A Deficiency, which are mainly poverty and lack of access to a healthy and varied diet. This GE rice is a technological fix that may generate new problems," Greenpeace India declares. "For example, the single-crop approach of GE 'Golden' rice could make malnutrition worse because it encourages a diet based solely on rice, rather than increasing access to a diverse diet of fruits and vegetables...."(1)
Hmmm. Sounds familiar, doesn't it? Introduce a must-have "fix" to a problem, then sit back and watch multitudes of people become even sicker. Golden Rice, vaccines, "necessary" prescriptions -- essentially, the underlying theme is all the same. Take it to get better, then watch yourself or a loved one's health decline.
One person who refuses to accept Golden Rice and the industry-funded views surrounding it is Philippines resident and activist Benedicto Sanchez. He says that Moore and his Golden Rice won't be tolerated; try as he may during visits to the area, Moore will find that the province of Negros Occidental will not stand for his GMO-loving ways.(1)
Even the province's Governor Alfredo Marañon Jr. says, "We have an ordinance, they cannot come in. In Negros we are GMO-free, we are an organic island."
People making their opposition to Golden Rice vehemently clear
MASIPAG, which is a farmer-led network that opposes Golden Rice, is successfully voicing their concerns. They've even taken to social media to make their feelings known. On Facebook, for example, MASIIPAG says in a March 11, 2015, post, "The rabid Golden Rice lobby group, Allow Golden Rice Now! has left the Philippines with their tails behind their legs, and cowed by the intense
resistance showed by the farmers opposing the unsafe and unwanted Golden Rice." Below the post is a picture of farmers lining the streets with an assortment of anti-Golden Rice signs.(2)
The group is also focused on standing up to Bill Gates, known to have financial ties to the International Rice Research Institute. "While the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is a
philanthropic organization, its focus is on high technological solutions like chemical farming and GMOs," says Dr. Chito Medina, National Coordinator of MASIPAG. "Thus we believe that the projects that they are funding will only cause further trouble among the poor farmers and consumers."(3)
Sources:
(1) http://www.asianpacificpost.com
(2) https://www.facebook.com
(3) http://masipag.org
http://truthwiki.org/The_Green_Revolution_-_...
http://truthwiki.org/Genetically_modified_cr...
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