CON O'ROURKE,
Sir, - As reported recently in The Irish Times and the Economist, major shipments of US food aid to southern African countries have been refused because the maize was genetically modified (GM) and local officials feared it might be "toxic". Such bans will inevitably increase the death-rate in famine-stricken areas. Yet this is the same maize that has been consumed regularly, in various forms, by hundreds of millions of North Americans over the past decade, with no harm to anybody.
However, rather than deploring the naïvety of African officials for refusing vital help, we should blame the environmental organisations which created the current anti-GM hysteria. Such organisations include Greenpeace, with its TV "spectacular" of Lord Melchett in white jumpsuit and face mask thrashing GM maize trials.
The eco-lunatics really have taken over the asylum. - Yours, etc.,
CON O'ROURKE,
Park Lane,
Sandymount,
Dublin 4.