Millions of people die every year because of malnutrition and starvation, making it a priority for the Commonwealth Nations to protect and provide food for it’s people. The committee session started off by debating Jamaica’s resolution, “The usage of GMO’s is approved and encouraged by the government to increase production rates for food.” The debate was opened by Andrew Holness of Jamaica, who gave a heartfelt speech on the pros of GMO’s and potential lives that it could save. Many countries agreed with this speech, but were concerned about the funding, health effect, and logistics of this resolution.
Many countries such as Pakistan, Rwanda, and Singapore were unable to accept the idea of GMO’s as they stated that it was “unnatural,” and could have potential negative effects on the body as it is not fully researched. Pakistan also felt as if the natural way of farming, that many farmers use right now is the way to go, totally missing the point of the whole debate. Canada graciously pointed this out by giving a heated speech on why the topic of GMO’s is being discussed, ”the natural way of growing food that we use currently is no longer able to sufficiently supply our growing population, as seen by the number of deaths caused by starvation. Therefore, change needs to happen!”
After 10 minutes of countries repeating that they wanted GMO’s because the pros outweighed the cons. Australia finally made a constructive statement by stating that it would be important to test GMO’s more to ensure health, research to make GMO’s even more effective, and also to label foods that have used GMO’s in order for consumers to know what they are eating. This solution eased countries such as Singapore’s concern about the health effects of GMO’s as consumers will be informed of how their food was made, while being able to provide food for developing countries.
The committee then voted on the resolution. All countries but Pakistan, who only spoke once, voted for the resolution. The resolution was not passed.
Delegates groaned in disappointment and began debate again.
Many countries such as Pakistan, Rwanda, and Singapore were unable to accept the idea of GMO’s as they stated that it was “unnatural,” and could have potential negative effects on the body as it is not fully researched. Pakistan also felt as if the natural way of farming, that many farmers use right now is the way to go, totally missing the point of the whole debate. Canada graciously pointed this out by giving a heated speech on why the topic of GMO’s is being discussed, ”the natural way of growing food that we use currently is no longer able to sufficiently supply our growing population, as seen by the number of deaths caused by starvation. Therefore, change needs to happen!”
After 10 minutes of countries repeating that they wanted GMO’s because the pros outweighed the cons. Australia finally made a constructive statement by stating that it would be important to test GMO’s more to ensure health, research to make GMO’s even more effective, and also to label foods that have used GMO’s in order for consumers to know what they are eating. This solution eased countries such as Singapore’s concern about the health effects of GMO’s as consumers will be informed of how their food was made, while being able to provide food for developing countries.
The committee then voted on the resolution. All countries but Pakistan, who only spoke once, voted for the resolution. The resolution was not passed.
Delegates groaned in disappointment and began debate again.