Large corporations producing genetically modified seeds dominate the debate, with activists questioning their motives and whether they have the ability to achieve social good while making a profit. But the technology to produce GMOs is becoming increasingly cheaper and democratized, opening the door to new plant varieties that are in the hands of the public, not just companies.
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Within the development sector, Greenpeace and Fairtrade International are the leading voices opposing GMOs. Greenpeace has been particularly vocal against GMOs, and was singled out in a June 2016 letter signed by 129 Nobel laureates urging the organization to re-examine and abandon their campaign against GMOs [and the Golden Rice project in particular].
The arguments of both Greenpeace and Fairtrade against GMOs are similar — the risks that GMOs pose are still unknown, and they may have unforeseeable environmental, social, and health impacts.
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Related on the SLP
And there are social impacts, the groups argue, especially on the world’s poorest communities.
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According to Juliet Perry, from Greenpeace’s Asia Pacific Communications Hub, the promotion of GMO crops represents a corporate takeover of food systems with six corporations — Monsanto, DuPont, Dow, Syngenta, Bayer, and BASF — now controlling 75 percent of the world pesticides market, 63 percent of the commercial seed market, and more than 75 percent of all private sector research into seeds and pesticides.
Read full, original post: Understanding the continued opposition to GMOs
