I believe it depends on the culture but initially I think people will reject golden rice but overtime they will accept it. We are a world of immigration. People groups move to new regions and integrate their customs and culture into the society they move into. It takes time for the indigenous people to adjust to the new culture coming in but eventually a new culture can be accepted as long as the people are willing to. I believe the same can happen for golden rice. There will be a gradual change and acceptance but it may take leaders of the community to help kick start it.
The problem with this is that the vitamin A deficiency is affecting people now and people are dying from micro-nutrient deficiencies so action must be taken now. Sometimes death becomes a way of life for people and it is accepted as just is. People can be hesitant to change and there isn't a sense of urgency to change things once death has become a matter of fact and not necessarily seen as a problem.
White rice or other staple foods biologically modified to incorporate the micro-nutrient that the people need while retaining the normal color would be ideal.
I totally agree with you that it is more of a cultural phenomenon. That it will be accepted eventually. I know that being Indian we are so used to eating white rice but for health there is rise in conscious effort/a small movement to eat brown and other grains to better control diabetes and other metabolic issues. Yes, I do know that most people on a larger scale can not afford brown rice. This would not be an issue with the distribution of yellow rice as it would be distributed among the one most in need. I also think that having vitamin A fortified rice helps with nutritional deficits. But one think to keep in mind is also vitamin A toxicity levels—since it is fat soluble vitamin, we need to create a protocol on how much yellow rice we can distribute in an area before the people/locals will develop toxicity to vitamin A.
Yes, it will be slow cultural change and beside people are hungry and when hunger kicks in, you are more concerned about eating rather than what you are eating. So therefore, I think the locals/people will become accustomed to yellow rice.
Hi Mariah! I really enjoyed your post, especially when you talked about immigration playing a role in the integration of the new rice because people tend to adopt things easier when they are integrating into a new society. That was a really interesting point that I hadn't thought about. I also agree with your point on there being no urgency in these areas that have let death become the norm. We discussed in class how it will probably have to be initiated by the leaders, like you said, or ingrained in the younger generations (which are typically more flexible to changes). Older people who are set in their ways are difficult to persuade and may be past the point of health depending on the situation. However, the youth probably have more treatable deficiencies and would be more open to the changes. By starting with younger generations and making it a staple in their life, that will in turn hopefully translate in to their kids later in life and the cycle would propagate. It's unfortunate that such a small change such as coloring can keep people away from better nutrition.
I totally agree I do think younger people will be more willing to accept change. This has been seen throughout history.
I thinking coming from the US we very used to change and a variety of foods that something as small as a change in color to rice doesn't seem like a big deal especially if its going to help a lot of people. But I try to look at it from their perspective. If all i knew was one thing and I was used to eating this as a way to survive for my entire life I might be hesitant as well to try something different as well. Unfortunately there are people like this in the US too that would rather eat processed foods and fast food than carrots or broccoli. They know veggies are needed for healthy vitamins and minerals yet they can't get over the smell, taste, etc and that is a contributing factor to our own epidemics of obesity, heart disease, etc. So we actually have a similar issue in the US but with more chronic distruction.