Monsanto and Syngenta auto-awarded « Nobel Prize for food »: in which world do we live?

Thursday 17 October 2013

The World Food Prize, also known as ‘the Nobel Prize for food and agriculture’ attributed this year to three scientistspioneers in the development of genetically modified crops : Marc Van Montagu (Belgium), Mary-Dell Chilton (US, Syngenta) and Robert Fraley (US, Monsanto). The official ceremony is taking place this 17th of October. The laureates will be recompensed with 250 000 U$.

Syngenta is this same multinational company that has put on the market neonicotinoids insecticides, for years. These insecticides are today acknowledged to pose risks to bees and therefore to food security. They have been partially ban from the EU market and Syngenta still complain and sued Europe for its decision. How can a representative of the chemical industry, that developed pesticides and GMOs, leading to the destruction of biodiversity wins such a prize?

In fact, this is easy to know: the World Food Prize Foundation, which attributes this award, is a private organization with its headquarters, Iowa. Major funding of this foundation comes from the chemical and food industry: DuPont Pioneer , Monsanto, Bayer CropScience, Syngenta… In 2008, for example Monsanto made a $5 million pledge to the World Food Prize Foundation.

For the European Beekeeping Coordination, this Award is a propaganda and lie. It only aims to make GMOs sellers increase their sales; and make society believes that GMOs crops are the technological solution for food production. This Awards totally hides and omits the negative social, economical and environmental impacts GMOs have had since they have been cultivated. The European Beekeeping Coordination believes that the co-existence between GM and non GM crops is impossible.

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