Читать книгу Sociology - Anthony Giddens - Страница 244

In some of the world’s most densely populated areas, people are highly dependent on staple food crops – such as rice – stocks of which are dwindling. Global warming may increase desertification and lead to poor harvests, which has resulted in fears that food shortages may become more widespread. As a result, many worry that present farming techniques will not be able to produce rice yields sufficient to support the growing population. As with many environmental challenges, the threat of famine is not evenly distributed. The industrialized countries have extensive surpluses of grain, but, in the poorer countries, shortfalls are likely to become a chronic problem.

One UK report, based on two years of research into the future of food supplies and farming, argued that the present global food system is not sustainable and cannot end the problem of hunger (Foresight 2011). As the global population grows, from 7 billion to over 8 billion by 2030 and 9 billion by 2050, competition for water, land and energy will intensify and global warming will increase the pressure on food production systems. The combination of these factors constitutes a major threat which demands urgent action. Piecemeal changes will not solve the problem, nor will attempts to achieve national food self-sufficiency. The report argues for a coordinated policy approach and action on four fronts: more food needs to be produced sustainably, demand for resource-intensive foods must be contained, waste in all areas of the food system should be minimized, and political and economic governance of the food system needs to be improved (ibid.: 12–13).

The Foresight report also argues that no policy options or technologies should be closed off in the quest for a sustainable food system, and some scientists and politicians see one key to averting a future food crisis may be advances in biotechnology. By manipulating the genetic composition of basic crops, it is possible to boost a plant’s rate of photosynthesis to produce bigger yields. This process is known as genetic modification, and plants produced this way are called genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Scientists have produced GMOs with higher than normal vitamin content, for example, while other genetically modified crops are resistant to commonly used agricultural herbicides that can be used to kill the weeds around them, as well as insects and fungal and viral pests. Food products that are made from, or contain traces of, GMOs are known as GM foods, and GM crops are sometimes called ‘transgenic’ crops.

GM crops are different from anything that has existed before, because they involve transplanting genes between different species. This is a much more radical intervention than older methods of cross-breeding. GMOs are produced by techniques of gene splicing that can be used to transplant genes between animals as well as plants. For instance, in some experiments, human genes have been introduced into farm animals, such as pigs, with a view eventually to providing replacement parts for human transplants. Human genes have even been spliced into plants, although the GM crops that have been marketed so far do not involve this kind of radical bioengineering.

Scientists claim that a GM strain of ‘superrice’ could boost rice yields by as much as 35 per cent. Another strain, called ‘golden rice’ – which contains added amounts of vitamin A – could reduce vitamin A deficiency in more than 120 million children worldwide. You might think that such advances in biotechnology would be welcomed enthusiastically, but, in fact, genetic modification has become one of the most controversial issues of our age. For many people, it highlights the fine line that exists between the benefits of technology and the risks of environmental damage.