Genetic engineering of food. (based on Opracowania tematyczne by M Matasek)

Genetic engineering of food. Watch the film and answer the questions Why people are concerned about GMO? What different kinds of GMO plants are created? What are some positive examples? What is the future of GMO engeneering? Genetic engineering of food. Answer the questions then read the text, translate the highlighted words and answer the questions Why do people in Third World countries suffer from acute starvation? Is it necessary to produce more food to feed starving people? Genetic engineering of food. Despite the global overproduction of food, millions of people suffer from hunger and die of starvation each year. The problem is most severe in the underdeveloped and developing countries of the Third World. Politicians, scientists and human aidorganisations have been trying to work out a concrete solution to the problem of starvation for years. However, it appears that aid concerts, charity donations and political disputesare not sufficient because the needs of poor and starving people are either not well-defined or the measurestaken are not adequate. It may seem that the question of global starvation is not a difficult one to resolve judging by the ample amount of food produced by developed and wealthy countries. Yet, the issue of satisfying hunger in the Third World is hinderedby many obstacles most of which are political and financial.As the population of the planet increases and the poverty becomes more acute in the poor regions, the question of food availability turns into a matter of major concern. It is common knowledge that global food resourcesare sufficient to feed every person in need. There are suggestions for increasing global food production, but to specialists these suggestions make little or no sense at all. The coreof the problem lies in food distribution and financial constraints. Many people are simply too poor to buy readily available food. At this point, the problems of humiliatingstarvation and abjectpoverty overlapand the conclusion that emergesis that there is no other way to end starvation than by abolishingglobal poverty. However commendablethe objective may sound, it is highly unlikely to be accomplished within the next decade or so. No wonder then that a host of alternative proposals crop up every now and then. Genetic engineering of food is one of them and has attracted a great deal of attention in the mainstream media in many countries.Genetic engineering is the field of science that can open many new doors and can have multiple applications in the future. To mention just a few, geneticists have cloned animals and are getting close to cloning man, however controversial the idea may be. They have grown transgenic animals with genes from other species, they can modify viruses to make them harmless to humans and they may be able to grow parts of the human body for transplantation. Genetic engineering has also made its way into food production. However, the idea of genetically engineered foods has as many opponents as advocates.It may sound surprising to some people that a lot of foods we eat today contain genetically altered ingredients. Many of the changes have been effected without our knowledge and many such products are not clearly labelled. For example, considerable genetic changes have been introduced in many types of crops to make them grow bigger, faster and more healthily. Some genetically modified crops may contain greater amounts of vitamins, minerals or proteins than their naturally grown counterparts. Genetically altered cattle produce milk with a higher content of calcium whereas genetically modified pigs' meat is known to be leaner and more tender. Biotechnology experts claim that the genetic engineering of food is a direct response to the problem of global starvation. They believe that modified foods may help alleviate hunger and increase cheaper food production.There are however many questions and uncertainties about the genetic alternative. There is a growing wave of concern among consumers, farmers, scientists and politicians about the feasibility and the ultimate outcome of the genetic engineering of food. Some of them point to the fact that the problem of hunger in the world does not stem from a shortage of food. They claim it is the political and economic constraints that keep many people dying of hunger and that there is no need for increased food production. Adversaries of the concept say technology does not represent a direct solution to the problem of famine. Other critics say that innovations in agricultural biotechnology are profit-driven rather than need-driven. Huge corporations have invested exorbitant amounts of money in a genetic research and hope it will bring financial yield and will make the populations in need dependent on their products. The motives of the food producers are recognised as clearly commercial. The companies that have launched genetically engineered foods on the market have recently come under severe criticism for selling products which have not been adequately tested for health safety. Some critics say that genetically engineered foods can be dangerous as there is no certainty about the ultimate effect of gene manipulation and the alterations made in the new products.Those who hope to resolve the problem of global starvation with the use of genetic engineering are sure to encounter even more obstacles. The problem will not be solved as long as the real sources are not addressed. Poverty and economic limitations must be dealt with first if people in poor countries are to be able to buy a sufficient amount of food. And if genetically engineered foods will not be targeted at the suffering populations for humane reasons, they may land on the shop shelves in developed countries for commercial reasons. In this case, it may make sense to get accustomed to reading labels on food packages to make sure to what extent we are affected by the new obscure technologies. Sort these words out. Nouns aid dispute measure ample resources core constraint overlap host counterpart content feasibility outcome shortage adversary famine yield advocate Verbs hinder emerge abolish accomplish crop up effect alter alleviate stem from launch encounter Adjectives acute humiliating abject commendable mainstream multiple lean tender exorbitant humane obscure What makes the problem of famine in Third World countries so difficult to solve? What happens to the overproduced food in wealthy countries? If genetic engineering fails, what other solutions can there be to global starvation? Why may genetically engineered foods be considered dangerous to humans? Do you make a point of reading labels on food packages? Does it make sense? Vocabulary practice. Match the words with their definitions. advocate someone who supports or speaks in favour of something aid help in form of food or money given to people in need ample more than enough, sufficient concern something that worries someone constraint a restriction or limitation counterpart someone who has the same qualities as someone else dispute a disagreement about something important donation money given to a charity organization as help exorbitant (price of money) much higher than it should be obscure unknown, unimportant, hard to understand opponent someone who is against someone else's plans or ideas outcome the result of an action or discussion shortage notorious lack of something starvation death or suffering caused by lack of food yield profit, result, effect Fill in the blanks: 1. Regular food aid transports are sent to the regions where the famine has struck the most to alleviate the suffering of the people in need.2. The government commission are to resolve the dispute between the management and the workers in the shipyard.3. For thirty years the citizens of the country have fought to abolish the authoritarian rule.4. The workers of the Red Cross encounterd numerous obstacles when they first arrived in Kongo, the most difficult of which was the authorities' hostility.5. The rescue mission could not be accomplished due to unfavourable weather conditions.6. It's up to the developed countries to work out a solution to the problem of AIDS in Africa.7. The radical steps against corruption taken by the new government have altered the nature of politics in the country.8. Because of his approval of the government-controlled economy, the politician was labelled as communist.9. The new law has been accepted by the parliament, but we still have to wait a few months before the changes are effected.10. The social organizations are planning to launch an anti-drug campaign aimed at young people.