For the first time in decades, the price of chicken has exceeded the price of beef. So, what is going on? In a thread on twitter, apparently the price isn’t being hiked due to demand but in fact, the cause is a $100 million shipment of Soybean seeds.
In October 2022, a shipment was stopped at Port Qasim in Karachi containing Soybean seeds worth $100 million. These oilseeds were not meant to be planted but to be pressed. The resultant liquid from pressing them is one of the key ingredients of edible oil used in Pakistan.
— Profit Agri Journođźšś (@ProfitAgri) January 13, 2023
Soybean is important as chicken feed due to its nutritional value. But why were the soybeans stopped?
The answer is Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs). The soybean seeds that were stopped at the port had been genetically modified, and since Pakistan is party to the Cartagena Protocol for biosafety, the environmental ministry had jurisdiction to stop the shipments.
— Profit Agri Journođźšś (@ProfitAgri) January 13, 2023
With no news of the shipment being released it seems like chicken might just become a delicacy.
