Target: World Food Prize Foundation
Goal: Revoke Monsanto executive’s World Food Prize.
Recently, a Monsanto executive by the name of Robert T. Fraley was among the winners of this year’s World Food Prize. This is a prestigious agricultural award that is meant to recognize those who have remarkably improved the “quality, quantity, or availability of food in the world.”
Robert Fraley has played an extremely prominent role in the development as well as the endorsement of genetically modified (GM) crops. Although this type of biotechnology has been heralded as a solution to ending world hunger, it has not really been put into practice. Enough food is already generated in the world to feed the world’s population; the problem, however, is it’s distribution. Even though genetically engineered crops are produced in great quantities, it does not necessarily boost availability because it is not distributed in a way that helps feed the poor and hungry effectively.
All the more so, in terms of quality, increasing research tells us GM crops are more harmful than helpful to public health. Possible effects of GM crop consumption include antibiotic resistance, pesticide exposure, cancer, and a wide range of health issues. Research on the effects of genetically modified organisms is still limited, partly due to the newness of the technology and the unpredictability by which the foreign genetic material reacts with other genetic material inside humans.
Also, despite the World Food Prize being an award that represents agricultural efforts that help the world, not the whole world is in favor of Fraley’s biotechnology. Japan bans the importation of GM crops and seeds, and many small-scale farmers, such as farmers in Africa, highly object to the usage of GM crops.
It is inappropriate for Robert Fraley to accept the 2013 World Food Prize, not only because Monsanto seemingly bribed the foundation with a 5 million dollar donation, but also because there were far many more deserving people, and the bestowment of the prize wrongly encourages the usage and development of commercial GM crops.
Please sign the petition to demand a revoke of this award and to make this cause known before the official award ceremony in October.
Dear Ambassador Kenneth M. Quinn, Executive Assistant Jan Douglas and World Food Prize Foundation Staff,
I am disappointed by your choice in this year’s laureates for the World Food Prize, and more specifically I am referring to your choice of Dr. Robert T. Fraley as a laureate because of his contributions to the development of genetically modified crops.
The development of genetically modified have not shown meaningful yield increases and are not increasing availability of healthy food to poor and hungry people.
Research is increasingly showing that genetically modified foods produce negative effects on public health, including pesticide exposure, antibiotic resistance, and cancer.
Even the initial benefit of warding insects off is fading as these insects are becoming resistant to GMOs, leading to higher usage of insecticide and higher human exposure to these chemicals.
What makes the bestowment of this award more inappropriate is your foundation’s relationship with Monsanto. It is well known that your foundation accepted a $5 million donation from Monsanto, which suggests bribery and giving way to monetary incentive over giving the award to someone who actually deserves it.
I urge you to reconsider your choices in laureates and ultimately revoke Robert Fraley’s World Food Prize before the award is officially presented in October. Your present choices have not made truly meaningful and positive “contributions to human development through increasing the quality, quantity, and availability of food in the world.”
[Your Name Here]
Photo Credit: Shutterstock/ Zvonimir Atletic