Bolivia shares farming similarities with other South American countries. They have diverse land races and native crops that they wish to preserve. At the same time some wish to take advantage of modern genetic tools. Cecilia Gonzalez was a skeptic, someone who didn’t trust multinational corporations and certainly didn’t trust their technology. As time went on she learned more about the technology and now is an outspoken educator in the area of genetic engineering.
Bolivia is at a crossroads. They have an opportunity to become larger producer, and currently are importing corn and other GE crops from Argentina and other South American countries. Activists offering are trying to stop adoption of the technology. Because of their inability to deregulate GE varieties Bolivia unfortunately cannot compete with other countries, and their farmers suffer the consequences. You can sense Cecilia Gonzalez’s frustration and her love of her country, and the conflict that comes from a desire to implement affordable, sustainable farming to help Bolivians.
Follow Cecilia Gonzalez @BiotecBolivia
Hosted by Paul Vincelli @Pvincell
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Follow Kevin Folta on Twitter @kevinfolta | Facebook: Facebook.com/kmfolta/ | Lab website: Arabidopsisthaliana.com | All funding: Kevinfolta.com/transparency
