Each year, between 250,000 and 500,000 children go blind due to vitamin A deficiency (VAD), with more than half dying within twelve months . To visualize this number think of Seattle, now imagine half or all of its population going blind. With a few dollars of vitamin A-enriched food or supplements this problem can be alleviated. But providing fresh foods and vitamins to those who need them most has proven to be an insurmountable problem. Food aid, while saving lives, is expensive and does not solve the underlying problems of poor societies. To be truly secure, people must have food independence, meaning they must be able to increase their own food supply and not rely on external markets. In countries such as Vietnam, the Philippines, India and China, the main food is rice. Although rice is a valuable source of carbohydrates, once its outer layer is ground and shelled, it loses much of its nutritional value. Thirty years ago two German scientists, Ingo Potrykus and Peter Beyer, decided to see if they could do something to produce better rice. What they invented was a genetically modified rice that was bright yellow in color because it was rich in β (beta)-carotene, and was called golden rice because of its sunny hue. But before the two scientists could pat themselves on the back for solving vitamin A deficiency, anti-GM (genetically modified) groups like Greenpeace denounced the unnatural solution and vowed that golden rice would never reach third world farmers. . Twenty-eight years and approximately 10,000,000 deaths later, golden rice still has not escaped the bureaucracy and fear of the First World. And even if golden rice is not a definitive cure for world hunger,...... at the center of the paper......Rice to combat ailments linked to malnutrition of the poor. Nutrition reviews. vol. 51. No. 6. Pg. S101-S104 June. Various authors 2010 Controversies over genetically modified foods. Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GM_food_controversyAuthor unknown (editorial) 2005 Reburnishing [sic] Golden Rice. Biotechnology of nature. vol. 23. No. 4. Pg. 395. AprilAuthor unknown 2005 Scientists support agricultural biotechnology. AgBioWorld. Agbioworld.org/declaration/petition/petition.php