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PUTTING BIOTECH TO A HIGHER USE
As the debate over bovine somatotropin use evolved,
the scientific community has rallied behind the
concept that the future of biotechnology in
agriculture depends on the registration of this
product based on sound scientific principles. Lose
this battle, scientists say, and the potential for
this new technology will be forfeited as well.
Scientists seeking legitimacy for their research
need look no further than the developing world
where the fallout from the Green Revolution of the
1960s continues.
Not only do 800 million in the Third World sleep
hungry at night, but many starve. Many more people
get the daily calories they need but not the
essential micro-nutrients to enable them to better
themselves.
Ithaca-based United States Department of
Agriculture scientist Ross Welch calls it "hidden
hunger", and points out that while the Green
Revolution in the developing world increased rice
and wheat production dramatically, enabling many
more people to eat from the same acres, it
sometimes changed diets for the worse.
The pulses in indigenous diets were replaced with
milled wheat and rice. These relatively
calorie-rich diets are deficient in iron and
perhaps zinc. "The magnitude of the problem is
absolutely immense," Welch says.
It's been estimated that more than one billion
people on this planet suffer from iron deficiency,
and not just in the Third World. Women and children
in poor socio-economic groups in the U.S. and
Canada suffer as well.
The consequences of iron and zinc deficiency are
the same: decreased work performance, increased
illness and death in children, especially infants,
and damage to fetal brain cells during pregnancy.
This results in reduced cognitive ability in
children. In short, Welch concludes, because of
poor nutrition, development in Third World nations
will be impeded.
Welch argues that the way agricultural systems
deliver food to the human race must be designed
with a broader view. A nutritive factor has to be
worked in. "We have to link agriculture to human
needs," Welch says.
Right now, scientists are looking at technological
fixes. There are two ways that this can be done.
One way is to develop sources of cheaper meat.
An alternative is to alter plants to remove the
anti-nutrient factors that inhibit the digesting of
iron and zinc in human stomachs. Corn, for example,
a food staple grown around the world, contains
phytic acid, which prevents zinc digestion.
Welch sees the potential through plant breeding and
genetic alteration, to develop plants that make
more iron available to hungry people. Essential
sulphur amino acids, like methionine, bind to iron
and make it more absorbable.
Scientists have been able, in a relatively short
space of time, to breed canola varieties that are
Roundup resistant. It remains to be seen whether
scientists can breed factors into plants that will
release essential micro-nutrients without
compromising plant growth.
It would be unfortunate if the technology to
produce cheaper, more nutritious food were employed
only in the developed world, where the need is
least.
On the other hand, this is an opportunity for
biotechnology stockholders, drug companies, to
redeem themselves in the eyes of the public, by
changing the way that the world eats for the
better.
LETTERS
Cheese kerfuffle
We are writing to add some background to the discussion of the
Skotidakis controversy.
The story in the Sept. 26 issue indicates, in a somewhat
incredulous tone, that two producers "claim to own cows to feed
baby goats". Readers should know that it is not uncommon for goat
milk producers to use cows to provide milk for goat kids. Milk
replacer is expensive, and many of those who are shipping milk earn
too much per litre of goat milk to justify feeding it to kids.
Also, some feed cow milk to prevent the spread of CEA, a
goat-specific disease. Without knowing how many cows these
producers own, it's difficult to judge the situation.
The Ontario Farm Animal Council advises farmers to refer to young
stock by such neutral terms as calf, lamb and piglet rather than
Bambi-like terms such as baby cow, baby sheep or baby goat. Kid
goats is an appropriate term, if you want to avoid confusion with
human kids.
Mark and Kathy Hall
Elmvale
WORD PLAY
Your recent coverage and editorials on the herbicide registration,
importation and smuggling business has been well covered, balanced
and fairly presented in my opinion and also in the opinion of the
many farmers I've talked to.
Because of your initial coverage, other papers have picked up on
the story, namely the Ontario Farmer and the Owen Sound Sun Times.
However, I and many others do strongly object to the continual use
of the words "illegal" and "banned". These forceful adjectives
create an incorrect impression of 'banned here, banned elsewhere',
illegal, like DDT, unsafe and poisonous.
Farmers and those knowledgeable on the topic understand what is
being implied. However, non-farmers and the non-farm press are
receiving misinformation.
Re-phrasing to "not registered for use here in Ontario while being
fully licensed in the U.S.A." is a much more correct interpretation
of the facts. The words "illegal" and "banned" may take up less
space and grab more attention in a headline, but this whole issue
is contentious enough without giving consumers, the non-farm press
and the health ministry a free field day.
Mervyn Erb
Huron AgVise
Brucefield
TWO REALITIES
In recent years we have seen the emergence of two agricultural
realities in Canada, because of federal efforts to standardize
policies from coast to coast. The federal government must grant
Quebec a fairer share of public spending in the area of
agricultural support. Quebec farmers should not have to pay the
price for being different, especially when it comes to income
security, because of tools they have put in place to take charge of
their future.
This is not a time for a vengeful attitude. Agricultural producers
are competing with the world for markets. It is the responsibility
of the central government to remain alert and defend the country's
best interests when negotiating international treaties, including
interests related to Quebec, and they have been given a golden
opportunity in the Canadian-American dispute over dairy products.
We hope that Quebecers will have reason to continue to believe in
the federal system.
It is in the interest of all players to build strong commercial
ties that will withstand political uncertainty, because farmers'
main concern is income security. With a national agreement on milk
and, in the near future, poultry, we should be able to reach
agreement in all areas.
Our political leaders, whether in Ottawa or Quebec, have a
responsibility to carry through on the wishes expressed by the
people of Quebec, who have a deep thirst for change. Quebecers want
to see a major reform of our political institutions and the federal
framework.
The vote on Oct. 30 will go down in history as a final appeal for
recognition of differences and for true change. We hope this appeal
will be heard.
Laurent Pellerin
Union des Producteurs Agricoles
Longueuil, Quebec
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