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Rolling Cyber Debate Question for John Hagelin from October 19, 2000
From Web White & Blue (http://www.webwhiteblue.org)

Question:
It seems every year we hear about American grain surpluses and the intentional destruction of good grain. With so many developing nations facing food crises and many people starving, couldn't that surplus be shipped where it is needed?
Submitted from Lynn from St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin, via PBS Online

Answer:
Global hunger remains a terrible scourge, and we, as compassionate Americans, must do everything within our power to address it.

It is, however, a myth that our excess grains are being destroyed. Yet it is true that we can, and must, do more to ensure that the world's food, including our own surpluses, is more effectively distributed to those who need it most.

Most countries are, in fact, capable of producing enough food to feed their citizens. Often, however, either for political reasons or poverty, this food fails to reach their citizens in need. For such countries, our foreign policy must focus on strengthening these countries politically and economically.

There is a clear role for humanitarian distribution of U.S. grain surpluses. But we must be careful about dumping excessive, highly subsidized U.S. grain into a developing market, for this can destroy the agricultural infrastructure of that nation. It can also make developing nations overly dependent on U.S. growers for food, rather than promoting their own food self-sufficiency. Our humanitarian food aid should focus primarily on helping developing nations become food self-sufficient by offering crucial technical assistance in sustainable agricultural methods and technologies.

There is more than enough food produced today to feed all of Earth's nearly 6 billion citizens. Hunger results from poverty, poor infrastructure, and in too many cases, a lack of political will to ensure that all people are fed.

Given these true reasons for global hunger, propaganda by biotech corporations that the genetic engineering of crops is necessary to feed the world is absolutely unfounded. Gene pollution caused by such genetically engineered crops poses a serious threat to biodiversity and to a sustainable food supply.

Vice President Gore emphasized these very threats in his book "Earth In The Balance." Unfortunately, once he joined the Clinton/Gore administration and became a major recipient of biotech money, he suddenly became a strong promoter of biotech food. Thus, even in our own country, politics poses the most serious threat to our food supply.

I would require mandatory labeling and safety testing on genetically engineered foods, and a moratorium on the release of these experimental foods into the environment until proven safe.

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