Here is an interesting article on the Vatican's' look at biotech foods.

http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20031111021409990001&_ccc=4

Does anyone know their official position on breastfeeding?

Laura


Vatican Ponders Morality of Biotech Foods
By NICOLE WINFIELD, AP
VATICAN CITY (Nov. 11) -- The Vatican concluded a two-day conference on
genetically modified organisms Tuesday with a discussion of the moral implications
of tinkering with creation by splicing genes to make new plants and animals.
Supporters of the new technologies said they offer great promise to mankind
and deserve to be encouraged, while critics said biotech foods will not
alleviate world hunger. The two camps clashed at a Vatican-sponsored conference
entitled ''GMO: Threat or Hope.''
The Vatican is expected to make a pronouncement on genetically modified
organisms in the future, based on the data gathered during the seminar. Some
participants have questioned whether the Vatican was getting a balanced view, since
speakers in the pro-biotech camp dominated the discussions, reflecting the
views of its organizer, Cardinal Renato Martino.
Martino has spoken out about the potential benefits of genetically modified
foods in alleviating world hunger - a prime concern of the Vatican.
Martino has said the Vatican's aim was to find some common ground for the
benefit of mankind, particularly the poor.
The issue of poverty and hunger is a major concern for the Vatican, which
rejects arguments that limiting family size by using contraception is one way to
improve food security in the developing world.


But two Jesuits, the Rev. Roland Lesseps and the Rev. Peter Henriot, said in
a joint paper to the conference that endorsing the use of genetically modified
organisms disturbed ''the awesome goodness of God's creation.''
Lesseps and Henriot, who both are based in Zambia, said church teachings
requiring respect for human rights and the natural world mandated that the Vatican
take a precautionary approach concerning GMOs.
''Nature is not just useful to us humans, but is valued and loved in itself,
for itself, by God in Christ,'' Lesseps and Henriot said in prepared remarks.
Lesseps, who has a doctorate, is a senior scientist at the Kasisi
Agricultural Training Center in Lusaka. Henriot is director of the Jesuit Center for
Theological Reflection.
A Vatican endorsement of biotech foods likely would draw praise from the
United States, where biotech companies have been at the forefront of extolling the
virtues of genetically modified organisms, which can be made to resist
insects or disease.
But it would no doubt ruffle feathers in Europe, which has imposed a
moratorium on growing or importing genetically modified organisms because of fears
about their environmental and health risks, and in African countries such as
Zambia, which has rejected biotech food aid.
Greenpeace science adviser Dr. Doreen Stabinsky also challenged Martino's
argument, telling the conference that genetically engineered crops were not
alleviating world hunger and posed environmental risks.
For example, Argentina harvested enough wheat during its 2001 economic crisis
to meet the needs of both China and India, but many of its own people still
went hungry, she said.
''There is no direct relationship between the amount of food a country
produces and the number of hungry people who live there,'' Stabinsky said in
prepared remarks.
Rather, political and economic issues over hundreds of years have contributed
to world hunger, she said. The problem will be solved only by addressing
inequalities in land distribution, improving access to markets and dealing with
cheap imports of staple foods, she said.
Italy's health minister, Girolamo Sirchia, told a press conference that the
technology offers hope to mankind.
''There is no data that shows that transgenic foods are harmful to one's
health,'' Sirchia said. ''Four-fifths of humanity doesn't have enough food or
medicine. Science favors the development of humanity and health.''
Dr. Harry Kuiper, a food safety expert at Wageningen University in the
Netherlands, said current methods adequately ensured the safety of genetically
modified foods, even if questions remained about the ''unexpected effects'' of
modification.
''Scientists and colleagues, we think we have the methods to identify
unexpected effects using new technologies,'' he said. ''And although I must say there
is no 'zero risk' in life - everything is risky - we can provide with our
methods a very high level of safety assurance.''
Thandiwe Myeni, a small-scale South African farmer and chairwoman of the
Mbuso Farmers' Association, said she had a positive experience with genetically
modified cotton. The genetically modified seeds cost more than regular ones, but
she saves money by using less pesticide and harvesting bigger crops.
''We need this technology,'' she told a press conference after speaking to
the symposium. ''We don't want always to be fed food aid.''
''We want access to this technology so that one day we can also become
commercial farmers.''
11-11-03 1142EST

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