There is a bill in Congress now called the Casey-Lugar Global Food Security Act (S.384).  It aims to reform the way America gives food aid to developing countries by shifting from direct food aid (which only expands the market for US grain, destroying local markets, etc.), to helping farmers develop their own agricultural systems.  This is long overdue, HOWEVER, the bill also mandates funding for genetically modified (GM) crop research as a major underpinning of its food security strategy.

Though I could spend this post scaring the hell out of you about why GM crop is terrible for us, the environment, local farm livelihoods and agri-economies, I’ll just say this: GM crop will not solve global hunger.  The the only positive benefit of GM crops - that of significantly higher yield - has not been seen in the field.  Research has shown that conventional and  knowledge-basd systems of farming continue yielding apace with GM crops.  The negatives of genetically modified crops are legion (see the GM cotton crop failure in India, leading to massive farmer suicides).  Your tax dollars should not go to subsidize companies like Monsanto in their efforts to spread GM seed around the world.

Bio-tech firms will say that GM crops will end hunger worldwide.  Currently over 90% of the US soybean crop and 60-70% of US cotton and corn are genetically modified and yet there are 30+ million hungry Americans.  If these bio-tech companies can’t end American hunger, what makes you think they can end worldwide hunger?  A similar percentage of worldwide crops being genetically modified is horrifying.

Please click here http://act.credoaction.com/r/?r=4252&id=4956-2101816-z0AbLix&t=6 to sign a petition telling your senator that Monsanto, and the bio tech companies like it, will not solve global hunger.