we feed the world

Erwin Wagenhofer (Austria / 2005 / 96')

“Grazie a ciò che l’agricoltura produce attualmente nel pianeta, potrebbero essere sfamate senza problemi 12 miliardi di persone, il che significa che ogni bambino che muore di fame equivale ad un assassinio”.

Perché un pomodoro non ha il gusto di pomodoro? Come si spiega che 200 milioni di persone soffranodi malnutrizione in India, mentre il paese fornisce l’80% del grano alla Svizzera? Perché migliaia di acri della foresta Amazzonica devono essere abbattuti per impiantare coltivazioni di soia? L’acqua è un bene comune a cui tutti hanno diritto, oppure, come sostiene il presidente della Nestlé, una tipologia di cibo con un proprio valore di mercato? Un film sul cibo e sulla globalizzazione, su pescatori e coltivatori, sul flusso delle merci e su quello del denaro; un film sulle risorse negate a molti e sull’abbondanza destinata a pochi. Uno sguardo sulla produzione del cibo che consumiamo, cercando le risposte che la fame nel mondo ci impone di dare.

"We have to get used to the idea that there are no longer any
GM-free foods."

Karl Otrok, Director of production, Pioneer Romania
Austria is considered to be largely free from genetic engineering: up to now, no transgenic organisms have been released into the environment, and Austrian supermarkets stock practically no products that are labelled as containing genetically modified constituents. However, genetic engineering has sneaked into Austrian agriculture through the back door in the form of animal feedstuffs.
Domestic production of feedstuff is insufficient to cover the protein requirements of the Austrian livestock industry. Austria imports around 550,000 tonnes of soya annually, of which according to Greenpeace around 60% is genetically modified. Although the law has required these feedstuffs to be labelled as such since 2004, there is no obligation to label secondary products such as meat, eggs or milk produced from animals which have consumed these feedstuffs.
Hardly any tests have been carried out to establish what effect this might have on animal or human organisms. What is obvious however is that wide-scale cultivation of genetically modified soya in countries such as Argentina is having huge negative impacts: use of crop sprays has risen drastically, forests are being felled and the nutritional situation of the inhabitants has by and large deteriorated dramatically.
Worldwide, genetically modified plants are being grown on more than 60 million hectares, 99% of them in Canada, Argentina, China and the USA. They consist mainly of soya (58%), maize (23%), cotton (12%) and rape (7%).
Within the EU there is a growing movement of consumers – including farmers – who are against the release into the environment of transgenic organisms and GM foods. In response to this, the EU announced a moratorium – in the face of strong opposition from the World Trade Organisation – on the import of genetically modified seed, effective until 2004. Since then EU law has required all foods containing GM constituents to be labelled. And since then genetic engineering has been increasingly infiltrating agriculture in Central and Eastern Europe, particularly in admission states such as Bulgaria, Romania and Croatia.

Official web site: www.we-feed-the-world.at

LINKS:
www.greenpeace.at
www.global2000.at
www.umweltbundesamt.at
www.foeeurope.org

we feed the world
		Erwin Wagenhofer (Austria / 2005 / 96') “Grazie a ciò che l’agricoltura produce attualmente nel pianeta, potrebbero essere sfamate senza problemi 12 miliardi di persone, il che significa che ogni bambino che muore di fame equivale ad un assassinio”. Perché un pomodoro non ha il gusto di pomodoro? Come si spiega che 200 milioni di persone soffranodi malnutrizione in India, mentre il paese fornisce l’80% del grano alla Svizzera? Perché migliaia di acri della foresta Amazzonica devono essere abbattuti per impiantare coltivazioni di soia? L’acqua è un bene comune a cui tutti hanno diritto, oppure, come sostiene il presidente della Nestlé, una tipologia di cibo con un proprio valore di mercato? Un film sul cibo e sulla globalizzazione, su pescatori e coltivatori, sul flusso delle merci e su quello del denaro; un film sulle risorse negate a molti e sull’abbondanza destinata a pochi. Uno sguardo sulla produzione del cibo che consumiamo, cercando le risposte che la fame nel mondo ci impone di dare. "We have to get used to the idea that there are no longer any GM-free foods." Karl Otrok, Director of production, Pioneer Romania Austria is considered to be largely free from genetic engineering: up to now, no transgenic organisms have been released into the environment, and Austrian supermarkets stock practically no products that are labelled as containing genetically modified constituents. However, genetic engineering has sneaked into Austrian agriculture through the back door in the form of animal feedstuffs. Domestic production of feedstuff is insufficient to cover the protein requirements of the Austrian livestock industry. Austria imports around 550,000 tonnes of soya annually, of which according to Greenpeace around 60% is genetically modified. Although the law has required these feedstuffs to be labelled as such since 2004, there is no obligation to label secondary products such as meat, eggs or milk produced from animals which have consumed these feedstuffs. Hardly any tests have been carried out to establish what effect this might have on animal or human organisms. What is obvious however is that wide-scale cultivation of genetically modified soya in countries such as Argentina is having huge negative impacts: use of crop sprays has risen drastically, forests are being felled and the nutritional situation of the inhabitants has by and large deteriorated dramatically. Worldwide, genetically modified plants are being grown on more than 60 million hectares, 99% of them in Canada, Argentina, China and the USA. They consist mainly of soya (58%), maize (23%), cotton (12%) and rape (7%). Within the EU there is a growing movement of consumers – including farmers – who are against the release into the environment of transgenic organisms and GM foods. In response to this, the EU announced a moratorium – in the face of strong opposition from the World Trade Organisation – on the import of genetically modified seed, effective until 2004. Since then EU law has required all foods containing GM constituents to be labelled. And since then genetic engineering has been increasingly infiltrating agriculture in Central and Eastern Europe, particularly in admission states such as Bulgaria, Romania and Croatia. Official web site: www.we-feed-the-world.at LINKS: www.greenpeace.at www.global2000.at www.umweltbundesamt.at www.foeeurope.org