Jordan like many of the countries in the Middle East is facing a huge water crisis, and we've been told that Jordan is ranked 2nd in the world for lack of water resources. Needless to say, it's been three days since I've taken a shower because we ran out of water...Yep. Don't worry parents, I've found other ways to stay clean...
We've been told that we should not shower everyday due to the drought. Our host family fills up a tank of water every Sunday, and we have to make that water last the entire week. This water is used for washing hands, flushing toilets, washing dishes, etc.. Unfortunately, Friday morning we ran out of water and did not have enough to even wash our hands. Luckily we got some water from the neighbors, but it was incredible how fast we ran out. Sarah and I have only showered 3 times in the 1 1/2 weeks that we've been in the house, and took no more than maybe 7 minute showers, but even this was too much for the family to handle.
We realized how horrible the water issue was in Jordan. We could get a gym membership and take long showers at the gym, but that would still be contributing to the massive water scarcity in Jordan.
This water issue has been exacerbated by the influx of refugees in Jordan, who has been welcoming refugees from all over the Middle East including Syria, Iraq, Palestine, and Libya. The total number of refugees has reached almost 2 million, which has added a huge stress to the already scarce amount of water and other resources. Jordan is already struggling to provide resources for its 6 million citizens. Jordan could stop the incoming streams of refugees; however its principle is to openly welcome the refugees because they say that Prophet Muhammed was the first refugee. It is unknown how well Jordan will be able to take care of these refugees. Resources are drastically depleting. Zaatari Camp, a Syrian refugee camp in Jordan, is actually built on a dried up water basin.
We've been told that we should not shower everyday due to the drought. Our host family fills up a tank of water every Sunday, and we have to make that water last the entire week. This water is used for washing hands, flushing toilets, washing dishes, etc.. Unfortunately, Friday morning we ran out of water and did not have enough to even wash our hands. Luckily we got some water from the neighbors, but it was incredible how fast we ran out. Sarah and I have only showered 3 times in the 1 1/2 weeks that we've been in the house, and took no more than maybe 7 minute showers, but even this was too much for the family to handle.
We realized how horrible the water issue was in Jordan. We could get a gym membership and take long showers at the gym, but that would still be contributing to the massive water scarcity in Jordan.
This water issue has been exacerbated by the influx of refugees in Jordan, who has been welcoming refugees from all over the Middle East including Syria, Iraq, Palestine, and Libya. The total number of refugees has reached almost 2 million, which has added a huge stress to the already scarce amount of water and other resources. Jordan is already struggling to provide resources for its 6 million citizens. Jordan could stop the incoming streams of refugees; however its principle is to openly welcome the refugees because they say that Prophet Muhammed was the first refugee. It is unknown how well Jordan will be able to take care of these refugees. Resources are drastically depleting. Zaatari Camp, a Syrian refugee camp in Jordan, is actually built on a dried up water basin.
What's even more worrisome is that in the next 10-15 years, Jordan is going to really suffer because they may not have enough water to even provide food for the entire nation. There may come a time when Jordan will have to find alternative ways to supply food for the people, such as through Monsanto. I drove by a huge Monsanto farm the other day along the highway between the Queen Alia Airport and Amman, and I immediately got worried. After hearing all the horrible things that Monsanto has been doing all the world, I was wondering what it was doing in the Middle East. It didn't seem like the Middle East would be too keen on using GMO products considering how seriously they take their food. (Unlike the United States...).
Monsanto is the largest GMO monopoly in the world. 90% of all GMOs are produced by Monsanto. Now, from at least what I understand, there are three things to note about Monsanto. First off, they produce GMOs, which have been banned in multiple European countries. Research has shown that there may be a link to eating GMOs and cancer and other diseases; however, more research needs to be done on this topic to confirm. Regardless, multiple nations firmly believe that GMOs are detrimental and have rejected Monsanto.
Over 400 cities are protesting Monsanto.
Second, Monsanto is a huge monopoly that runs local farmers either out of business or incorporate them into their monopoly. There have been thousands of cases where Monsanto has found ways to bind farmers to only using Monsanto seeds. For example, if a farmer has land next to a Monsanto farm there is high a chance that the GM Monsanto seeds will travel onto the local farmer's land. Now these seeds are patented, so if a farmer is producing crops with these seeds either knowingly or unknowingly then they can get sued by Monsanto, and possibly have to be bound to its contract. Now as you can imagine, this is a horrible situation for these local farmers that base their livelihood on these farms. Monsanto has gotten a bad rep all over the world for these two reasons, but can the company save Jordan from food shortage and water resource depletion?
The third thing to note is that Monsanto has the ability to create crops that are bigger as well as drought resistant, so they could possibly solve the issue of food and water scarcity. But is it worth the risk? We are still not 100% sure how GM crops will affect us; however, there may come a day in certain regions of world that water and food will become so scarce that they will have no other option but to use these GM crops.
After doing some research I found out that Monsanto has begun to infiltrate the Middle East and has based its Middle East branch in Amman, Jordan. The Ministry of Agriculture has said that Monsanto is not testing GMOs in Jordan and that GM crops are not authorized for production in the Middle East. If this is the case, then what is Monsanto doing off the service road near Amman?
Munir Hasaleh, the director of the Ministry of Agriculture said that Monsanto is not bringing GM crops into Jordan but is bringing GM animal feed into Jordan. So we have GM corn being fed to these animals, which many people would claim is still bad since the GM corn may harm the animals' health, causing us to eat unhealthy meat. Seeing the direction that Jordan is headed in regards to water scarcity, there may come a day when Jordan has to decide to continue the current way of living and deplete all water sources and face hunger issues, or cave and use these GM crops to save the little water they have left to feed the population.
It's an incredibly unfortunate situation.
Will the Middle East have to sacrifice health to generate enough food for people? Is it going to be worth it?
Update:
Here is a
Over 400 cities are protesting Monsanto.
Second, Monsanto is a huge monopoly that runs local farmers either out of business or incorporate them into their monopoly. There have been thousands of cases where Monsanto has found ways to bind farmers to only using Monsanto seeds. For example, if a farmer has land next to a Monsanto farm there is high a chance that the GM Monsanto seeds will travel onto the local farmer's land. Now these seeds are patented, so if a farmer is producing crops with these seeds either knowingly or unknowingly then they can get sued by Monsanto, and possibly have to be bound to its contract. Now as you can imagine, this is a horrible situation for these local farmers that base their livelihood on these farms. Monsanto has gotten a bad rep all over the world for these two reasons, but can the company save Jordan from food shortage and water resource depletion?
The third thing to note is that Monsanto has the ability to create crops that are bigger as well as drought resistant, so they could possibly solve the issue of food and water scarcity. But is it worth the risk? We are still not 100% sure how GM crops will affect us; however, there may come a day in certain regions of world that water and food will become so scarce that they will have no other option but to use these GM crops.
After doing some research I found out that Monsanto has begun to infiltrate the Middle East and has based its Middle East branch in Amman, Jordan. The Ministry of Agriculture has said that Monsanto is not testing GMOs in Jordan and that GM crops are not authorized for production in the Middle East. If this is the case, then what is Monsanto doing off the service road near Amman?
Munir Hasaleh, the director of the Ministry of Agriculture said that Monsanto is not bringing GM crops into Jordan but is bringing GM animal feed into Jordan. So we have GM corn being fed to these animals, which many people would claim is still bad since the GM corn may harm the animals' health, causing us to eat unhealthy meat. Seeing the direction that Jordan is headed in regards to water scarcity, there may come a day when Jordan has to decide to continue the current way of living and deplete all water sources and face hunger issues, or cave and use these GM crops to save the little water they have left to feed the population.
It's an incredibly unfortunate situation.
Will the Middle East have to sacrifice health to generate enough food for people? Is it going to be worth it?
Update:
Here is a