From Christine:

"Golden Rice may seem like a realistic solution for vitamin A deficiency
(VAD), but those opposed say the project is deeply flawed. For starters,
Friends of the Earth and MASIPAG ...  point out that there are multiple
recourses for malnutrition planned and currently in place, that are cheaper
and do not require GMOs, that should make golden rice unnecessary. For
example, UNICEF employs a vitamin A supplementation programs that improves a
child's survival rate by 12-24% with the price of only a few cents."

So it's cheaper to travel the countryside administering supplements to the
population than to simply allow them to eat a different version of something
they're already eating - the technology for which has been donated by its
creators?

"Friends of the Earth stated that golden rice produces too little
beta-carotene to eradicate VAD, solely 1.6 micrograms per gram of rice and
10% of the daily requirement of vitamin A. The amount of golden rice needed
for sufficient vitamin A intake would be too great in comparison to the rice
available in developing countries."

Golden rice has since been improved to supply 60 percent of the daily
requirement - so the anti-GMO groups now claim that they are dangerously
high in beta carotene! They've applied the same dishonest reasoning to Bt
crops, claiming simultaneously that that Bt levels are dangerously high and
ineffectively low.

Eugene Makovec

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