GM plants

[MrMistery]

Third world basically means "where people are dying of hunger, that hasn't got a single penny". If a poor man wins the lotery, he isn't poor any more

[eluned]

Sustainable farming practices and improved distribution of existing resources would be a much more sensible and effective way to feed the world. Companies produce GM foods so that they can pad their bottom line - like splicing genes for tolerance to insane levels of the pesticide RoundUp(TM). By splicing in the gene for the Bt toxin, the biotech companies have managed to select for insect pests that are resistant to the toxin. This greatly reduces the efficacy of BT (bacillus thungensis) which had been a popular organic method of pest control.

(BT is a bacteria that can be sprayed on crops. When ingested by larva of the appropriate pest, the bacteria multiply in the alkaline gut releasing a toxin that paralyzes the gut so that the larva starves to death - biological warfare at its finest. Once the bacillus start multiplying, they generate a lethal dose of the toxin. Different varieties of BT have specificity for different varieties of pests (mosquitoe larve, catepillars, and certain beetles). By splicing the gene for the toxin into a plant, it is expressed not only in leaves, but also pollen - where it createsproblems for bees and butterflies. There is also no control over how much toxin is ingested, which is the reason resistant populations of pests have emerged.

Golden Rice is a huge hoax:
http://www.foe.org/safefood/rice.html
There is no proof that the form of Vitamin A in the rice is biologically available after the rice is consumed, and there wouldn't be enough of it there to meet the daily needs unless folks eat 5 pounds of rice every day. (There is a also social stigma against unprocessed fouds like brown rice and whole wheat flour - thanks to the marketing efforts of industrialized nations.)