GMOs will end food crisis: UK starts boosting crops

They are genetically modified foods, but they are not mutants. There are no oranges with kiwi in them, and there are no strange conspiracies – as far as we know – to alter our DNA with what we eat. this transgenic foods They have been developing outside the European Union for over three decades and have achieved almost nothing for the time being expected of them. Neither for the better nor for the worse.

But now, with food crisis Britain, where the world lived as a result of the occupation of Ukraine, which is considered to be the ‘bread basket’ of Europe, and which got rid of European directives after Brexit, is considering opening the market. transgenic research in its own area. The European Commission, for its part, is currently examining the possibility of adopting two genetic modification techniques, directed mutagenesis and cisgenesis. A legislative proposal is expected by 2023. Are transgenics the answer to Europe’s food crisis?

The industry has been waiting for its moment, at least for years, and the current crisis plaguing the food world may have delivered it. A few months ago there was a problem with what fuel price What fills supermarket shelves has now become an issue. For example, in Spain Shopping cart increased by 10% on average and if it continues like this, it is estimated that in 2022 each household will spend 500 Euros more on basic products compared to the previous year.

For some parts of Africa, however, the problem is more pressing; cornflakes based on their food is currently held in Ukraine. That’s why the Italian prime minister, Mario Draghi, asked Russian President Vladimir Putin this week if he could unblock the supply currently halted at ports. Black Sea. The impending food crisis, which is already present in some African countries, will be enormous and terrible human consequences”, Draghi confirmed after failing his request.

Advocates of transgenics ensure, through numerous techniques: genetic modification and editing The amount of food can make crops more resilient to the effects of climate change and drought and less dependent on fertilizers, among other things. This therefore casts doubt on whether they will be one of the most effective ways to control the contamination they cause. intensive cultivationif they can help facilitate countries’ food independence and guarantee stable food production for an exponentially growing world population.

“GMOs won’t solve the problem” hunger In the world, this is obvious to us, but they have caused environmental problems. In the United States, for example, super weeds emerged when genes were transferred to wild variants and these created resistance. we cannot work against nature because nature always adapts, and if what we want is a more sustainable agriculture that is less dependent on chemical elements, we should work in its favor,” points out Carlos Mateos, the company’s seed technical manager, EL PERIÓDICO DE ESPAÑA. Farmers and Farmer Organizations Coordinator (COAG).

However, one of the arguments used to justify the development of genetically modified foods is that they will make less crops spoil. “We don’t have a problem in Europe” producing. It is normal that in the short term it will be difficult to replace regions that supply essential products to a significant part of the world. Ukraine, but our problem is different. We have a distribution problem in Europe,” says Mateos.

‘Super tomato’ with vitamin D

However, the UK, an importing country, half of the food you eat, it is not so clear. Exit from the European Union has made its citizens’ shopping carts more expensive in recent years due to distribution problems as well as dependency on access to their markets.

The price of living has become more expensive for men, according to the British National Statistical Institute. worst levels in the last 40 years With inflation reaching 9% in April and likely to reach 10% by 2022. In recent months, meat prices such as lamb have increased by 14.3%, milk, cheese and egg prices have increased by 9.5%, butter by 12.5%… And above all, this general rise in prices is making a new leap every day. quarter meant that in recent months 57% of British people admitted they had it. difficulties to buy food.

Far from seeing this as a linked issue BrexitThe Boris Johnson Government has ensured that leaving the European Union offers an opportunity to end dependence on food production abroad. “technologies [edición genética] It will allow us to speed up the precision. crop growthto increase natural resistance to diseases and climate change, and to better use nutrients in the soil, thus obtaining better harvests. less pesticides and fertilizers”, UK Environment Secretary George Eustice recently explained in an interview Telegram.

That way, and despite open opposition from regions like Scotland, the British parliament is preparing to pass a bill that aims to allow farmers to grow transgenic plants with more freedom and researchers to develop new genetic versions. All this, in addition, is framed in a white book that sets the situation. national food security strategy.

So the intention of the scientists advising the government is that new genetically modified varieties can be approved in one year rather than in ten years as in current legislation. The first such food was, for example, a ‘super tomatoGenetically modified to contain as much provitamin D3 as two chicken eggs.

Obtained primarily through sun exposure, vitamin D is one of the greatest vitamins, helping keep teeth, muscles and bones healthy. explains Britons and around one in five are estimated to lack it.

Spain breeds 96% of transgenics in EU

But in the European Union there is a greater distrust of transgenic crops. Although there is the possibility of breeding a species for more than twenty years resistant corn European farmers did not bet on the plague of the borer beetle. “GMOs have been grown and developed for years in South America, the United States, and parts of Asia, and they haven’t even been able to do that. increase production At much higher levels than those in Europe” points out the technical manager of COAG seeds.

In 25 out of 27 countries of the European Union, the cultivation of transgenic crops is practically non-existent. 95.8% corn insecticideAs is known, what grows on the territory of the EU is grown in Spain, the rest on the fields of Portugal.

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