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Top Vatican Official Says GMOs are Not the Answer to the Food Crisis

Cardinal Martino, the head of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, has previously been seen as little short of Monsanto's man in the Vatican. He has been perceived as working hand in glove with the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See to try and achieve a papal blessing for GMOs as a key tool in the fight against hunger.

In a stunning reversal, Cardinal Martino is apparently now saying that famine and lack of nutrition are to be blamed on the poor distribution of plentiful foodstuffs. He stated that the responsibility for the food crisis "is in the hands of unscrupulous people who focus only on profit and certainly not on the well-being of all people."

Martino said that a more just system of distribution, and not the manufacturing of genetically modified foods, would be the key to addressing the problem.000


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Comment on This Article Community Comments (6)
 
 
Posted On Jan 05, 2009
It's certainly refreshing to see that  the Pope's top advisers are finally in touch with reality. That it took this long is disturbing. Perhaps the Vatican should stick to matters of religion? Oh, and there's that Galileo business pending...

 
Islander
Moderator User Moderator User, Joined On 3/2007
Islander  
Replied

All Under Heaven
Apprentice User Apprentice User Joined On 2/2008
All Under Heaven  
 
Posted On Jan 06, 2009
Galileo, pardoned 400 years after his death...

The GM industry and advocates have always argued that GMOs is the solution to the world hunger crisis. It's their claim to fame just like the "one less" slogan with Gardasil. And they couldn't be more wrong.

The food crisis and world hunger isn't because of whether food is GM or not. The actual cause of famine and malnourishment is poverty. Impoverishment, socioeconomic inequalities, uneven distribution, geography, climate, political conflict and unstability are the reasons why people don't have access to food.

And GMOs can't solve the food crisis anyway, with all the crop failures they're having for one.




Swami Barmi
Savvy User Savvy User Joined On 10/2006
Swami Barmi  
 
Posted On Jan 07, 2009
"Oh, and there's that Galileo business pending..."

Although this is analogous to your original point, I think it's about time to drop this issue. The social, cultural, religious, AND scientific contexts of the day greatly informed that scenario, as well as Galileo's, um, less than polite demeanor. The church quickly realized its mistake of trying itself down to the prevailing science of the day. A centuries later apology is, and was, unnecessary and absurd.

 
 
 
Posted On Jan 07, 2009
I agree that greed a major part of the problem. We are called to be our brother's keeper and to defend the dignity of all human life from conception.  The common good requires that we use our talents and gifts to help others  especially those marginalized by the modern gods of power, greed and pleasure.  Thank you, Dr. Mercola, for this site which aims to lift up our world. 

 
cvm
Novice User Novice User, Joined On 1/2009
cvm  
 
 
 
Posted On Jan 07, 2009
This is promising news indeed.

 
bmc
Savvy User Savvy User, Joined On 2/2007
bmc  
 
 
 
Posted On Jan 08, 2009
....and then there was light!

 
WellnessMom
Savvy User Savvy User, Joined On 6/2006
WellnessMom  
 
 
 
 
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