Food

Genetically engineering of the food we eat is an inherently risky process. Current understanding of genetics is extremely limited and scientists do not know the long-term effects of releasing these unpredictable organisms into the environment and people's diets.

Due to consumer pressure, supermarkets in many countries have cleared genetically engineered (GE) food from their shelves and global food companies have removed GE ingredients from their products. In addition, some leading pig and poultry producers have promised not to supply animals with GE feed.



Europe is leading the way in the fight against GE food; a huge mobilisation of European consumers and environmentalists has held genetically engineered organisms (also called GMOs or genetically modified organisms) at bay in Europe over the past eight years. In April 2004 it brought into force the world's toughest labelling regime.

Consumers should be protected from the dangers of GE food, not only in Europe but the whole world. However in many countries food manufacturers and corporations are failing o refusing to inform the public about the presence of genetically engineered ingredients in their products.

Consumers have the right to know and the right to choose: While labelling does not fully address the concerns of GE ingredients, it at least allows the consumer to make informed choices and decisions. Information about a product would enable and assist consumers who would want to take a precautionary approach in their food choices to do so. Moreover, failure to provide information is considered a breach of fair trade.

To help you, Greenpeace GE consumer guides or red/green lists have being released in more than 20 countries in the Americas, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. In Europe our Gene Detectives have also been very busy checking that the new labelling laws have been followed. Thanks to consumer pressure, only a handful of GE products exist in Europe.

GDP


Definition

Gross Domestic Product. The total market value of all final goods and services produced in a country in a given year, equal to total consumer, investment and government spending, plus the value of exports, minus the value of imports. The GDP report is released at 8:30 am EST on the last day of each quarter and reflects the previous quarter. Growth in GDP is what matters, and the U.S. GDP growth has historically averaged about 2.5-3% per year but with substantial deviations. Each initial GDP report will be revised twice before the final figure is settled upon: the "advance" report is followed by the "preliminary" report about a month later and a final report a month after that. Significant revisions to the advance number can cause additional ripples through the markets.

The GDP numbers are reported in two forms: current dollar and constant dollar. Current dollar GDP is calculated using today's dollars and makes comparisons between time periods difficult because of the effects of inflation. Constant dollar GDP solves this problem by converting the current information into some standard era dollar, such as 1997 dollars. This process factors out the effects of inflation and allows easy comparisons between periods.

It is important to differentiate Gross Domestic Product from Gross National Product (GNP). GDP includes only goods and services produced within the geographic boundaries of the U.S., regardless of the producer's nationality. GNP doesn't include goods and services produced by foreign producers, but does include goods and services produced by U.S. firms operating in foreign countries.