ENVI I Edition
KUOPIOPOLITAN
ENVI I, Ready to Chew
When the cat is away,
ENVI I will play.
Laura loves laughing, Aino loves act-
ing, Markus likes mocking, Nicholas
enjoys nibbling chips, Stella loves sing-
ing, Sanni likes sinking, Samuli prefers
smoki... swimming, Essi does not mind
existing and Mathilde indulges herself
in mourning. These are the laboratory
rats of the Committee on Environ-
ment, Public Health and Food Safety
I. Instead of running around in a maze
with no cheese, this gang will be tack-
ling the not-so-cheesy issues of public
health and food safety.
When the group met for the first time,
the Chairs Samuli and Laura already
had a test in mind. The Delegates had
their legs tied up and, so handicapped,
had to make their way to a room on the sters and solved the infamous human
third floor. At first, it seemed as if one knot. These were all, after a few bumps,
would get there faster by simply drag- solved in less than a minute.
ging the others. However, the minute
this group of six started working as a The laboratory rats of ENVI I have al-
team, they pulled together and com- ready proven to be faster than earlier
municated like professionals. Though generations, and today these rodents
there were times when they looked like took on their topic. By the time this ar-
a bunch of mad rabbits, there was en- ticle was finished, things were looking
thusiasm from everyone’s part and they very promising. So be warned, the Del-
all appeared to be relaxed and unified. egates of the Committee on Environ-
ment, Public Health and Food Safety I
The laboratory rats, as they were named can chew through anything.
by an anonymous team member (yours Nikolas Rawlins
truly), started off by hitting their names
onto each other’s heads with a mallet.
Once they were ready to get to know
one another, the cat was out of the bag
for good when the intimate secrets of
dancing with trolls, scuba diving with
sharks and living in England were re-
vealed. Next, the test subjects ran
through the devious obstacle course of
the swamp game, created hideous mon-
PUBLIC HEALTH AND FOOD SAFETY
Good Meal Or (not)?
“Green genetics” as possi-
ble solution to the global
food crisis: What measures
should the EU take to nei-
ther demonise genetically
modified food nor ignore
its risks?
Green genetics as a possible solution to
global food crises – this is the topic for
ENVI I. Their task is to figure out what
measures the EU should take on the
question of genetically modified food.
Green genetics are a relatively new sub-
ject in the global market. Flora and farm
products are genetically modified for
farming with the goal of more produc-
tive and faster harvests. The trend seems
The Kuopio’10 Press team
Journalists
Anni Marttinen
Anna Westerlund
Eoin O’Leary
Katarina Warg
Kati Pärn
Nikolas Rawlins
Sara Juricic
Editors
Elsa Horn af Rantzien
Konrad Staeger
to be unstoppable. In many countries,
green genetics are celebrated as a suc-
cess. Economically, the use of genetical-
ly modified organisms (GMOs) is quite
profitable; especially the markets in In-
dia and China are growing substantial-
ly. Significant increase in crops has been
achieved primarily in developing coun-
tries, but in Europe the cultivated area
has slightly declined. In Europe, the
growing of genetically modified plants
remains a highly controversial question.
Environmentalists argue that the effects
of GMO farming on human and ani-
mal health and the environment have
yet to be fully assessed. Supporters of
the use of genetically modified organ-
isms counter the argument by claiming
that green genetics offer the potential
for optimising plants. Consequently,
current efforts to reform the established
rules are triggering fierce debates. Of
the 14 million farmers who grow ge-
netically modified plants around the
world today, 13 million come from
the Third World. Genetic engineering
could be for them – even for the Af-
ricans with sometimes less productive
soil – a chance to succeed in the global
marketplace.
The controversial new technology raises
a host of ethical questions that concern
the long-term effects it can have on the
environment and the possible repercus-
sions of genetically modified food. In
the EU, there is a heated discussion on
whether to approve selling and produc-
ing genetically modified food, while
information regarding green genetics is
arguably slim. And as the days go by,
one has to wonder if it is safe to eat your
everyday food.
Nikolas Rawlins