Greenpeace Says "Golden" Rice Will Not Solve World Hunger Problems

MANILA, Philippines--Greenpeace posted a press release on its Web site (www.greenpeace.org) Feb. 9 to inform the public that "golden" rice is not as practical as the genetically modified (GM) food industry suggests. Golden rice is a vitamin A-infused rice variety that was created by the GM-giant, Monsanto. The technology was given away royalty-free because of the rice's potential for alleviating symptoms (such as diarrhea and blindness) of malnutrition.

However, based on calculations conducted by Greenpeace, an adult would have to eat at least 12 times more rice than the daily recommendation in order to benefit from the rice's vitamin A. In other words, a person's normal daily intake of rice--300 grams--would only meet eight percent of the daily recommended allowance for vitamin A. That means the average adult would have to eat nine kilograms of cooked rice per day, and a lactating mother would have to consume 18 kilograms.

"We recalculated . figures again and again, [and] we just could not believe serious scientists and companies would [recommend] this," said a Greenpeace campaigner from the Philippines, where the first shipments of the GM rice were sent to plant alongside local varieties at the Rice Research Institute.

Nonetheless, Greenpeace stated that it would not oppose the rice studies currently underway. Although the organization protests other GM crops, a spokesperson from Greenpeace International stated that promoting food that could help with blindness and malnutrition is a moral decision. For more information, visit www.greenpeace.org.