03 December 2005

Hoodia Gordonii

They ate it to subdue their hunger because they had nothing to eat. Today the rich eat it to get that extra pound off: http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/story/0,3605,1656900,00.html

4 comments:

Advaitavedanti said...

Thats a shame! Soon, the plant will be mega-expensive and the poor won't be able to afford their own plant! I think these companies patenting such things should go ahead and patent *life* once and for all. Let people who can't afford to pay royalty to live their own lives then, die!!!

Vijayalaxmi Hegde said...

Oh, they are ... they are patenting life all the time. Right now, I am reading Vandana Shiva's 'The myth of patents'. Read it if you can.

Unknown said...

Be aware of Vandana Shiva though.. Some of her allegations do not make sense! (in India Divided, she says the Gujarat massacre was a result of Globalization)

Vijayalaxmi Hegde said...

Hmm.. maybe you are right. Though she is right about what she says regarding bio-piracy in this book, at places I felt she could have substantiated her statements better. Sometimes, it feels like reading a text book.