The Political Power Of GM Seeds

INTRODUCTION

Chairman Mao once said that all political power grows from the barrel of a gun, another said it grows from a barrel of oil, and now it looks like it is going to grow from a barrel of seed. For a generation, many believed that “they who have the oil will rule the world, and if not, they will kill for it.” The thousands of dead women and children, soldiers and civilians in Iraq is strong evidence that it is true indeed.

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The next generation will say “they who own the seeds will rule the world.” Dramatic as this might seem, it is close to the truth. The past ten years have seen transnational companies developing genetically modified (GM) seeds for a wide variety of food crops that feed the world: soya, wheat, corn and rice. The oil- and ethanol-producing crops like rapeseed and sugarcane are their special targets.

The modified seeds are now developed and patented. No farmer can reproduce them but must buy new seeds every year from the GM seed company. To stop poor farmers in developing nations from harvesting the seeds and planting them as they have done for thousands of years, the seeds have been modified so they self-destruct. They will not reproduce and grow – they are made sterile and appropriately called terminator or suicide seeds.

Many poor farmers, Filipinos and many others, will have no choice in a few years when all the native seeds are replaced by GM seeds. The crops are being grown in the Philippines already with the connivance of some irresponsible government officials. The poor are being drawn into this web of deceit, power play and obnoxious skullduggery.

Owning the seeds that grows the food that feeds the world makes big money for the agricultural corporations and places the public in the power of the GM seed owners. When GM seeds are established and most farmers and local agricultural firms are dependent on them, these big GM corporations will be able to pressure governments and have power over the people and dictate policy. They never have to be elected or hold public office and can increase prices without restriction and have taxes reduced on their vast earnings as the oil companies do. Their money can influence elections as we have seen in recent years.

The political and economic power GM seeds corporations have is vast. Some governments are shareholders in these companies and may use GM seeds as a silent political weapon – hunger or the threat of it. They might threaten to cut off seed supply causing fear panic, and riots, and bring about a regime change to their liking. No need for war, coups or sanctions.

We can see the hunger weapon being used against North Korea to get them to adopt a nonnuclear policy by the western countries. Food aid if they comply, sanctions if they don’t. Iran would be next if they were dependent on US GM seed companies. How else could this power be used for good or bad remains to be seen.

However, one thing is sure: the GM seed-producing corporations and their governments are working hard to get the GM seeds planted in every country and eliminate the native seeds of the free farmers.

They have to do it quickly because the movement against the GM seeds and the food they produce is taking hold and most Europeans are against them. In the Philippines, the government of Negros Island has taken a stand to be fully organic and to say no to GM seeds.

Some GM seeds have pesticide genes spliced into them. People fear the native plants can be contaminated and new mutations of pesticide resistant weeds could grow out of control and destroy entire farms. There is too little known about the health hazards of the genetically modified food. It may take years of eating food grown from genetically modified seeds to know if there are dangerous side effects. Can we just allow the GM seeds to take over the Philippines and the world and then find hidden health hazards when it is too late? We must take action to stop them now.

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