I was surprised at my seething anger and indignation that arose during the 11/12/03 viewing of the video Harvest of Fear by Nova and later processed the information as a means of understanding and identifying my emotions. The following is a response to the video and an explanation of my emotions.
The video began with the disaster that occurred on Hawaii where by the ring spot virus decimated plantations causing the farming industry a loss of forty-five million dollars. Surely this appears to be a problem for the farmers as well as for papaya eaters. If the fruit does not grow healthily then there is nothing to harvest and take to market. A brilliant scientist asked the question, "Could genetic engineering help"? Of course the solution was to splice genes in order to vaccinate healthy fruit by a method comprised of shooting engineered genes through the leaves with "The Gene Gun". These new or transgenic cells in turn will grow new healthy plants that are able to resist the ring spot virus. The use of virus resistance makes plants less susceptible to diseases caused by viruses thus, higher crop yield. This seems like a reasonable solution until I looked further into the ramifications and my emotions. .
Putting medicine or engineering plants to create their own medicine would assuredly become a tempting aspect to commercialization because it attracts large corporations that produce herbicides, pesticides, and insecticides along with farmers who want to capitalize on bigger and better (more nutritious) crops. The results would mean products would have a lower price, greater durability and nutritional value. Of course there are drawbacks and if history were any indication of mans folly it would seem that we are destined to repeat ourselves until we get right. The critics claim that Genetically Modified foods are reseeding the earth and that this undermines the traditional ecological and cultural food values.
After watching the movie "Harvest OF Fear,"" I have learned a great deal about Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs). There are many pros and cons to the use of GMOs. I was surprised to learn about the pros and especially about how the GMO plants can help starving people in the developing countries ...
They gave thanks to the water spirits and sun gods for good harvests. Ceremonies were large and elaborate in order to impress the gods and with the hope of more good harvests to come. ... Indians feared ghosts and nonconformists, who they believed were capable of calling upon evil spirits by use of witchcraft. Witchcraft was the most feared and dreaded crime in Indian cultures, and many of their rituals were used to ward of evil spirits. ... (Harrison, aol.com/pantheism0/Indians) Their beliefs in nature swept them up in windstorms of thanks and fear, where they lived their lives ruled by spiri...
Juarez is indicative and symbolic of most cities in Mexico where many fear for their lives due to drug cartel violence or struggle to afford their next meal due to being paid next-to-nothing for backbreaking work. ... These workers often work in horrible conditions and are treated inhumanely, yet do nothing about this discriminatory mistreatment, for fear of being sent back to Mexico or whatever country they have migrated from, jailed for illegally crossing the U.S. and Mexican border, or even blacklisted as a worker that other employers should not hire for work. ... The CBS investigative rep...
Jeffersonians felt that the American economy needed to lie more so in agriculture and the exportation of these harvested goods to European countries where food was short in supply, frequently clashing ideas with the Federalists and their industrial plans. ... During the tenuous period during which the direction of our new nation was decided, the Federalists and the Jeffersonians both possessed their own separate set of fears that would follow the failure of their plans. ... To further inflame their fears was France and its unfortunate Democratic revolution. ... The past few decades would pr...
Chinua Achebe demonstrates the idea that failure does not always correlate with weakness, which is portrayed throughout the novel through diction and irony by the character of Okonkwo, predominantly in the quote, But his whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and of weakness (13). ... Okonkwos fear is reflected through his temperamental guise, for he associates masculinity with violence; however, it is clear to the reader that on the inside, Okonkwo is compassionate, but by allowing his fear to run his life, he comes off as aggressive. ... Achebe demonstrates that it is not al...
The French countryside began hearing rumors that King Louis got feudal lords to hire robbers to murder the peasants and destroy their new harvest. This fear added to the already existing fear because of the lack of good harvest in 1787.Originally, there were no plans to overthrow the king and higher class, but the peasants believed it because the French Revolution was in talks about bringing new rights to them. ... This wave of violence is known as the Great Fear or Grand Fear. The results of the Great Fear were quite rewarding. ... The guillotine instilled fear among French natives. ...
The box can't be replaced because the villagers don't want to break their tradition in fear that it would upset their god. ... In the story, the villagers believe that they have to follow the tradition set before them or they wouldn't receive a good harvest. It was commonly believed that if the villagers continued the tradition of the lottery, and sacrificed someone, their god would reward them with a bountiful harvest. This is all that the villagers know, the only tradition that they've ever done, so the see no other way to worship their god and get a good harvest. ...
Planting and harvesting are done with rituals and taboos. ... "Burial grounds and human remains continue to be both sacred and feared and should not be disturbed for any reason". ... In some regions, "no one may eat the first fruits of a harvest until a portion of it has been offered to the ancestors". ... "Africans" fear of any god is almost insignificant compared to their fear of and respect for their ancestors". ... Therefore, a part of the harvest or some newborn animals are slaughtered and sacrificed to the ancestors. ...
Balancing between encouraging the workers not to have unnecessary fears but having a healthy respect on the substances poses a great challenge for risk communicators. ... Pesticides are known to be among the most feared risks. ... This, however, caused a huge amount of rumours and fears. ... The results of the timber harvesting survey were efficiently communicated to the target group and many briefings were held to the workers. ... The substance is currently widely used in central and southern Europe in cultivating grapes, vegetables and fruit, also near harvesting. ...
