American greats and great Americana To say that the United States have received a lot of criticism in the past few years, is putting it mildly. America's reputation has crashed in the public opinion. American politicians have turned from liberators into warmongers, American society from a shining example into a cradle of violence, and American culture from cool to commercial. Still the “greatest country on earth” has a lot to offer: wonderful national parks, great music, entertaining movies, cutting-edge science and technology, etc. Here's a selection by the students and teacher of the 6th year of English at the CVO Waregem Anzegem Tielt of Waregem, Belgium. The texts have been written or compiled by the students between April and June 2008.
30-05-2008
GM crops
The US, the New World, is receptive to advanced techniques to improve food by genetic engineering.
Twelve years after the first generation, the GM-varieties have become commercially available. The adoption of these varieties by U.S. farmers is widespread for major crops. Driven by farmers' expectations of higher yields, time saving maintenance and lower pesticide costs, the adoption of GE-varieties with corn, soybean, maize, oilseed rape and cotton has increased rapidly. Today, 60% of the U.S. grocery food contains GM-ingredients, even after the Philip Morris tobacco scandal has heightened awareness of GM-risks in the US.
Despite the benefits, environmental and consumer concerns have limited acceptance of GM-crops in Europe. The Old World has declared a moratorium on GMOs, principally to protect its own farmers. These GM-crops would help feed the hungry millions of people, but the European lobby will not hear of it. Europe defends its point of view under the pretext of protecting the environment and consumers' health. Still, everybody should realise that this technology is already widely used. For instance, some products such as chocolate, mayonnaise, tomato sauce and bread may contain GM-vegetable oils, soy and maize derivates.
According to the WHO, GM-foods currently available on the international market have passed risk assessments and are not likely to present risks for human health. And who would counter the World Health Organisation?
