Young Global Leaders + Ethical Questions about GMOs
Young Global Leaders + Ethical Questions.
Date: 11/30/2012 11:49:27 PM ( 12 y ) ... viewed 1038 times
YOUNG GLOBAL LEADER JOSH SPEAR'S COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS BEFORE THE
Josh Spear giving the commencement speech at the Qatar Foundation 2012 Convocation.
Qatar's Education City includes branches of the following universities: Virginia Commonwealth University, Weill Cornell Medical College, Texas A&M University, Carnegie Mellon University, Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, Northwestern University, HEC Paris and UCL.
GARDEN MANAGEMENT JOURNAL
November 30, 2012
Went to dinner with the poppa of Josh Spear--identified as one of the Young Global Leaders Group.
Got a take on some pressing ethical issues facing our world. Josh has some of them on his plate.
There is something called the Millennium Promise. It is a Promise to end Poverty in Africa within 20 years. The promise was made in 2000. Not too much happened by 2010.
There are now thousands upon thousands of people starving in Africa.
Is the solution--feeding the straving people in Africa with GMO Seeds when
more and more information indicates that GMO Seeds may be a failed system with health and massive environmental consequences.
William Spear asked:
Do we allow villages of 10,000 or more to continue to starve or do we feed them with GMO seeds?
I want to sleep on this question after doing some preliminary research late last night.
I am solutions will percolate up.
However, I have a closer issue to home right now.
I need to keep on purpose with my plan to move forward the renting of an open space in our household.
I would like to see results now for a strategy that I expressed tonight.
I would like the Open Space to be for a person who can benefit from the Garden and its teachings, as well as add to the household.
LOOKING UP A FEW LINKS
DR MARTIN LUTHER KING
JOSH SPEAR HIS CONVOCATION SPEECH NOTES LISTENING FOR THE FIRST TIME
William Spear asked if I had heard this convocation address by his son Josh Spear.
He is one of 200 Young Global Leaders
Notes...
far fetched ideas...
from Josh Spear...
Do satisfying work...do what you love and the rest will follow...advise from his Mother and Father.
Doing things just for money is a sure way to fail...something like that...
Do not ignore your dreams....
dream part as your daily routine.
Dream for what your project needs.
When someone says you are living in your dreams, thank them very much...
Josh tells a story of Martin Luther King did not write the I have a dream speech.
Leliah Jacksona friend of Martin Luther King, ...while he was speaking giving the now famous "I have a dream speech,: told him to Tell us about the dream he had.
We need to hear your dream, she said.
Josh says: Your mother and father need to hear your dreams.
I would like the Young Global Leaders to read this article about filmmaker Jeremy Siefert and what inspired him to do a film about the peasants of Haiti who treatened to burn GMO seeds if Monsanto gave them. This was at a time of dire emergency, right after the earthquake when Monsanto offered up the seeds. The peasants saw this as an assault on their culture.
RONNIE CUMMINS OF THE ORGANIC CONSUMER'S ASSOCIATION SAYS:
Ronnie Cummins, Director of Organic Consumers Association, states that the Obama approach to alleviating hunger through the investment of corporations is "misguided." "To help the world’s two billion small farmers and rural villagers survive and prosper we need to help them gain access, not to genetically engineered seeds and expensive chemical inputs; but rather access to land, water, and the tools and techniques of traditional, sustainable farming: non-patented open-pollinated seeds, crop rotation, natural compost production, beneficial insects, and access to local markets."
"Bill Gates, Monsanto, and Barack Obama may believe that genetic engineering and chemical-intensive agriculture are the tools to feed the world, but a look at the 'fatal harvest' of modern agribusiness tells a different story. Not only can climate-friendly, healthy organic agriculture practices feed the world, but in fact organic farming is the only way we are going to be able to feed the world,” added Cummins.
***
Statement from Ronnie Cummins, Director of Organic Consumers Association:
“Study after study has shown that organic, agro-ecological farming practices on small diverse farms can boost yields in Africa and the developing world from 100-1000% over the yields of chemical-intensive or genetically engineered mono-crop farms. To help the world’s two billion small farmers and rural villagers survive and prosper we need to help them gain access, not to genetically engineered seeds and expensive chemical inputs; but rather access to land, water, and the tools and techniques of traditional, sustainable farming: non-patented open-pollinated seeds, crop rotation, natural compost production, beneficial insects, and access to local markets. Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) reduce crop yields, and increase pesticide use, even according to USDA statistics. Bill Gates, Monsanto, and Barack Obama may believe that genetic engineering and chemical-intensive agriculture are the tools to feed the world, but a look at the “fatal harvest” of modern agribusiness tells a different story. Not only can climate-friendly, healthy organic agriculture practices feed the world, but in fact organic farming is the only way we are going to be able to feed the world.”
---
Alert Webmaster
