More than two dozen anti-GMO groups are meeting in the Philippines in a last-ditch attempt to stop the deployment of Golden Rice, long proposed as a way to combat potentially life-threatening vitamin A deficiency among young children in developing Asian nations, such as Bangladesh, the Philippines and Indonesia.
[Editor’s note: Read the GLP’s fact sheet on Golden Rice]
Gathering for a three-day conference at the luxury Madison 101 Hotel and Tower in Manila – advertised on the Internet as an “upscale hotel with a sleek contemporary vibe” and rooms offering flat-screen TVs and whirlpool tubs – about 100 members of the various NGOs comprising the Stop Golden Rice! Network held a protest [April 3] outside the Philippines Department of Agriculture. More activities were planned today.
Many of the groups involved receive funding from official European overseas aid sources to promote “peasant-based” and “ecological” agriculture. However, much of their activity seems to be opposing genetic engineering specifically and also trying to prevent a more general modernization of farming that could allow higher crop productivity, increased food security and decreased use of chemicals.
Read full, original post: Anti-GMO activists convene to target Golden Rice
