By Ricardo Salvador, Stephen Moose, Bruce Chassy, and Kathie Hodge
Four students are delivering a presentation in a senior-level course on world food issues. The four students are born and raised on Iowa farms, and are very impressed with the prowess of the agricultural producers of their home state and their country. They express the belief that the way that U. S. producers can contribute toward allaying global hunger is to produce surplus grain so that a portion of this is available to enter food aid channels in the form of donations to needy nations. Their paper, entitled "America: The Land of Plenty," begins :
For the last forty years the U.S. has been setting the standard for agricultural production all over the world. We have gone from a self-sustaining production system to one which has made us a leading exporter of agricultural products world wide. There have been many reasons for this change including improved technology and farming methods. The U.S. now has a system, which consistently overproduces. Most of this overproduction is exported throughout the world, while some of the surplus is used to combat hunger abroad through U.S. food aid programs.
And concludes:
The future of this world is uncertain. Nobody knows how large the population will grow or how many people will continue to die from hunger. But one thing that is certain is that the U.S. will continue to overproduce. U.S. farmers have adopted technology and farming methods that have caused yields to steadily increase year by year, and these farmers have been known to be very reluctant to change. We can only hope that the U.S. continues to use this abundance to help feed the hungry throughout the world.
During the presentation team members display historical U. S. production and export curves for four major grain crops, including maize. Melissa, a member of the class, notes that for the years 1999 and 2000 the volume of U. S. maize exports decreased noticeably and asks for an explanation. Ben, speaking for the group of presenters, explains that the major export markets for U. S. grain, European nations and Japan, have had reservations about the transgenic grains produced in the U. S., and that specifically in year 2000 the presence of StarLink™ corn in the U. S. shipping pipeline deterred export sales. Mark, another member of the class, asks the obvious question: "So, what is happening with all that extra grain?" Ben replies that most of it is redirected as feed for U. S. livestock. Then Nick, a member of the presenting team, points out that during the course of his research he read that a portion of GMO corn without a buyer was being donated as food aid. On hearing this, Martine, a member of the class who is a wealthy Haitian studying in the U. S. exclaims: "But that is unethical!" Ben looks at her directly and asks incredulously: "Wouldn't it be worse to let them starve?"
| For Everyone | For the Classroom | For Extension | Activities | Contact Us | Search |
| Office of Biotechnology homepage | Search the Office of Biotechnology homepage |
Published by: Office
of Biotechnology, Bioethics Outreach
Ames, Iowa 50011-3260, (515) 294-9818, biotech@iastate.edu
Questions about the site? E-mail biotech@www.biotech.iastate.edu
Copyright © 2003, Iowa State University. All rights reserved.
Last Update 05/23/03