GM opponents need a fundamental conversion
It takes courage, humility and honesty to admit mistakes. And how many of us haven’t jumped to wrong and impetuous conclusions in our youth. But Damascene Conversions don’t come any bigger than that of Dr Patrick Moore, a co-founder of Greenpeace, who these days campaigns against some of what he once stood for.
“Greenpeace and its allies have successfully blocked the introduction of golden rice for over a decade,” he said recently. And he went on to quote the World Health Organisation, which estimates between 250,000 and 500,000 children become blind every year due to vitamin A deficiency which golden rice can correct. Half of those children die within a year of becoming blind.
Golden rice is, of course, a genetically modified form of rice that, unlike conventional rice, contains beta-carotene in its kernel. It’s been available since 1998 and countless experiments have shown it can eliminate vitamin A deficiency. It could be argued that by “spreading misinformation about golden rice” (Moore’s words, not mine) in countries where the problem is most acute, Greenpeace and others have been responsible for the blindness and death of up to seven million children.
What a tragedy that Dr Moore’s former colleagues and supporters still rely on their emotions and prejudices against genetic modification and refuse to recognise the evidence. There may well be other issues on which Dr Moore has changed his mind since he stopped being ruled by his instincts and looked at the facts.
The other evening I listened, in Norwich, to another former eco-warrior (he described himself as a former eco-terrorist) who, by following a similar path to Dr Moore, came to enlightenment. His name was Mark Lynas and he admitted when he was a student to being one of the founders of the anti-GM movement and to having destroyed trial plots.
“It could be argued that by “spreading misinformation about golden rice” (Moore’s words, not mine) in ountries where the problem is most acute, Greenpeace and others have been responsible for the blindness and death of up to seven million children.”
David Richardson
Today he remains an environmentalist and travels the world investigating the effects of climate change, a subject on which he has written a couple of books. Along the way, having studied the evidence, he has exposed green myths about such icons as organic farming, preferring to describe himself now as a scientific rationalist.
He believes that whereas some may regard genetic modification as a risk, despite the lack of evidence to support it, the avoidance of that risk poses a greater threat to humanity as the population increases and we lack other viable means to feed the extra mouths. Having once supported it, he now writes off organic production as a possible solution. It would use twice as much land, produce less food and lead to a loss of biodiversity, he said.
He writes, in his latest book, The God Species, of the primacy of science and of his optimism that it will enable the human race to survive climate change and population explosion. And those who want to hear more of his views can do so at the Oxford Farming Conference in January, where he is booked to give The Frank Parkinson Lecture.
Asked at his Norwich lecture to analyse why his views had changed so radically, he explained that his was chiefly a proxy war against capitalism and that GMs were almost a side issue.
“I used to think GMs, like multinational corporations, made humans too powerful,” he said. But now he realises it will need such power, benevolently used, to save the human race. Most of the pressure groups have given up campaigning against GM, he said.
So I think those in favour of it should just get on and do it.
David Richardson farms about 400ha (1,000 acres) of arable land near Norwich in Norfolk in partnership with his wife, Lorna. His son, Rob, is farm manager.
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