Corn Bawl

In a slap in the face to the bioengineering industry, the government of Zambia has rejected thousands of tons of genetically modified corn offered as food aid to the starving nation. Instead, the country will buy conventional corn from Kenya and Tanzania, according to Zambian Finance Minister Emmanuel Kasonde. Kasonde declined to say how much corn the country plans to buy, or at what price, but he did say the purchase would cover the nation's 630,000-ton corn deficit. Zambia is one of six southern African countries suffering from drastic food shortages and widespread starvation, and one of two -- along with Zimbabwe -- to reject genetically modified food aid. As many as 4 million Zambians are starving, but President Levy Mwanawasa has declined to accept GM corn until his government can conduct its own tests to determine whether the food is safe for human consumption.