Another Benefit of GM Food

Environmentalists are unanimous in their dislike of genetically modified foods. Not only will GM food save thousands of starving people, it may well keep the growers from being harmed:

Chinese farmers growing genetically modified rice produced larger crops, saved money on pesticides and were less likely to get sick from exposure to poison intended for insects.

An analysis of dozens of farmers growing two strains of rice modified to resist insects showed they used much less pesticide than those using conventional rice. None of the farmers using only the genetically modified (GM) crop was sickened by exposure to pesticides.

In contrast, 8.3 percent of farmers in the study growing only conventional rice reported pesticide-related illness in 2002, while 3.0 percent of them did so in 2003, researchers report in Friday's issue of the journal Science.

"Small and poor farm households benefit from adopting GM rice by both higher crop yields and reduced use of pesticides, which also contributes to the improved health of farmers," said Carl Pray, an agriculture, food and resource economics professor at Rutgers University in New Jersey.

I have no problems with GM food as long as it is labeled as such and people are given a choice as to whether they wish to eat it or not. I know the use of pesticides, fungicides and fertilizers are having a much greater effect on environmental quality than GM foods are on people and they should be greatly encouraged.