The Mustard Oil Conspiracy

Ecologist, The, June, 2001 by Vandana Shiva

Soyabeans contain phytic acid which can reduce the bioavailability of essential minerals such as calcium, magnesium, zinc, copper and iron. They also contain phytoestrogens which are above the levels required and are established carcinogens. They can have an impact on the foetus which can lead to the abnormal formation of reproductive organs, to sterility, and to the inhibition of sexual maturation.

Calculations have shown that an infant fed with soyabean-based formula is ingesting oestrogen equivalent to that obtained from 8 to 12 contraceptive pills per day. When the soyabeans are genetically modified they can lead to a host of health problems that have now been well documented. All this makes it clear that the substitution of imported soya oil for locally produced mustard oil and other vegetable oils has not been done for the purpose of improving people's health. Hygiene was clearly but a pretext; the motive was quite different.

Fortunately, the Indian people are reacting to this outrage. A coalition of over 25 women organisations from diverse backgrounds held a demonstration in the shopping district of Connaught Place, in Delhi, demanding free and easy access to mustard oil and rejecting the imported soyabeans. The women came from many different parts of India. They demanded that the government ensure that the poor have access to affordable, pure, and safe mustard oil, and not be forced to consume expensive, culturally inappropriate and hazardous alternatives, such as soyabean oil. Each of these women's groups stressed that the mustard oil adulteration was part of a calculated conspiracy to destroy the food economy in which women play a predominant role. To drive this message home they dumped a bag of soyabeans to underline their rejection of the imports, in particular US genetically engineered soyabean.

Let us hope that this is just the beginning of what will prove to be a powerful movement. It is time to force the Indian government to fulfil its duty in genuinely seeking to assure the health and welfare of the Indian people who elected it to power, rather than the short-term interests of a few American multinationals.

Vandana Shiva is Director of the Research foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology, in New Delhi, India. She is also a writer, lecturer and prominent environmental activist.