|
How do you define gmo?
Doesn't genetic engineering allow farmers to use less pesticide?
If governmental organizations are being careless in their regulation of GMOs- is there any litigation against them?
Don't GMO foods lead to bigger crop yields which will feed more people?
How do most farmers feel?
Is it true that food companies don't sell GMO food in Europe, and if so, why?
What does labeling look like in Europe?
Q: How do you define gmo?
A: A genetically modified organism (GMO, also called "genetically engineered") is a plant, animal or microorganism (eg, bacteria) that is created by means that overcome natural boundaries. Genetic engineering involves crossing species which could not cross in nature. For example, genes from a fish have been inserted into strawberries and tomatoes. While the Food and Drug Administration insists that foods produced by genetic engineering are the same as foods from traditional breeding, their own scientists reported that, "the processes of genetic engineering and traditional breeding are different and... they lead to different risks." (1)
The most widely grown GMO crops are soybeans, corn, canola (rapeseed) and cotton. Almost all GMOs grown today are in one of two varieties: "insect resistant" and "herbicide tolerant" crops. The insect resistant crops are also known as "plant pesticides" because the crop is considered (and regulated as) a new insecticide. The crop produces an insect toxin as it grows, in every cell of the plant throughout the entire growing season. When you eat GMO insect resistant corn, for example, you are eating a pesticide.
About 70% of the acreage of GMOs in the U.S. is in "herbicide tolerant" varieties. These crops are engineered to withstand direct application of toxic weed killers. Previously a farmer had to be cautious when using herbicides, because the plant poisons could kill the crop. Now the crop is genetically altered so that it will not be harmed by the chemical. This means farmers can spray weed killers right on the crop - and it means more chemicals on our food.
(1) Discovery documents from the lawsuit against the FDA, Alliance for Bio-Integrity et al v. Shalala, May 1998. Center for Food Safety, 666 Pennsylvania Ave SE, Washington, DC 202-547-9359.
return to questions
Q: Doesn't genetic engineering allow farmers to use less pesticide?
A: The vast majority of the GMOs growing today are engineered to withstand direct dosing with farm chemicals. These crops mean more chemicals on our food and farms, not less.
Some GMO crops are engineered to produce their own insecticide, in hopes that farmers will then spray less often. At best, results with these crops have been mixed, as farmers still must spray their fields for insects that are not killed by the inserted toxin (1). And in the long run, these GMO crops may destroy organic farming - so farmers who use no pesticides will be out of business.
(1) Andy Coghlan and Barry Fox, "Genetically modified plants may still need pesticides", New Scientist, December 18, 1999.
return to questions
Q: If governmental organizations are being careless in their regulation of GMOs- is there any litigation against them?
A: FDA has allowed GMO foods on the market with no requirements for pre-market safety testing or labeling. In May 1998, a coalition of scientists, consumer groups, and religious leaders filed a lawsuit against FDA calling for mandatory testing and labeling of GMO food. In March 2000, True Food Network joined a
coalition of over 50 environmental, consumer and family farm groups in a legal petition to FDA, calling the agency's posture on GMO foods wholly inadequate to protect human health and the environment. We also joined many of these groups in a petition last year calling on FDA to take bovine growth hormone, a GMO drug used in dairy production, off the market.
In 1997, True Food Network also initiated legal action against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). We were joined by 35 organic and family farm organizations, the International Federation of Organic Agricultural Movements (IFOAM), and the Center for Food Safety in calling on EPA to cancel the registration of genetically engineered insect resistant crops. Organic farmers are especially concerned about the risks from these crops, since scientists say that widespread planting of the GMO crop will lead to insects that are resistant to a biological insect control that many organic farmers use to protect their farms. Despite this and other risks, EPA continues to allow widespread planting of insect resistant potatoes, corn and cotton.
return to questions
Q: Don't GMO foods lead to bigger crop yields which will feed more people?
A: None of the GMO crops on the market today have been engineered for higher yield. In fact, a two-year study at the University of Nebraska showed that the most widely grown engineered crop, Monsanto's GMO soybean, actually yields less than natural soy varieties (1). The Nebraska research confirmed findings from the University of Wisconsin and other independent trials comparing GMO versus non-GMO soy. An analysis of 8,000 trials found that non-GMO soy yields were significantly higher than the GMO variety (2). In 1999, a US Department of Agriculture report compared yields of biotech and natural varieties. There was a statistically significant yield gain in the biotech variety in only four of twelve region-crop comparisons. In seven there was no difference, and one region showed a significant yield loss for farmers using GMO seed (3).
Biotech companies like to use the argument of feeding more people in their PR. But this subject requires a closer look at the causes of hunger. The world currently produces enough food to provide every person on the planet with over four pounds of food a day. Hunger is the result of poverty and unequal access to food, not a lack of food (4).
(1) "Study shows genetically altered soybeans produce lower yields," Associated Press, May 17, 2000.
(2) Benbrook, Charles. "Evidence of the Magnitude of the Roundup Ready Soybean Yield Drag from University- Based Varietal Trials in 1998," Ag BioTech InfoNet Technical Paper Number 1, July 13, 1999.
(3) See Jane Rissler, Union of Concerned Scientists Review of USDA Economic Research Service (ERS).
(4) See, for example, Peter Rosset, Joseph Collins, and Frances Moore LappŽ, "Lessons from the Green Revolution: Do We Need New Technology to End Hunger?", Tikk.un Magazine, vol. 15, no. 2, pp. 52-56, March/April 2000
return to questions
Q: How do most farmers feel?
A: True Food Network is concerned that farmers are not getting the whole story about GMOs from biotech companies. European and Asian rejection of GMO food has caused U.S. farmers hundreds
of millions of dollars in lost exports (1), and with consumer concern rising here, there are more problems for farmers looming. Many family farm organizations are deeply concerned about GMOs making farmers more dependent and less financially secure.(2)
(1) Brian Halweil, "An Industry in Trouble," Yes!, Summer 2000.
(2) The American Corn Growers have expressed concern about marketability of GMO crops, see their press releases. The National Family Farm Coalition also actively opposes GMOs.
return to questions
Q: Is it true that food companies don't sell GMO food in Europe, and if so, why?
A: Europeans share the concerns that American consumers have about GMOs: like Americans, they don't want to take a chance with foods that are produced with a radical new technology that has not been proven safe for the environment or human health in the long-term. Food companies like Kellogg's have responded to European demand for non-GMO food. But in the U.S., Kellogg's and many of these same companies say they use GMOs. They claim that the FDA says GMOs are safe.
In America, our government is not taking action to inform consumers about GMOs or to even let us know, by labeling, that we are eating GMOs. Consumer demand brought about labeling in Europe. Once labeled, food companies found no market for GMO food. Consumers in America must let food companies know that they don't want GMOs either.
return to questions
Q: What does labeling look like in Europe?
A: The European labeling law went into effect in September 1998, yet most foods made with GMO ingredients are exempt. Labels are required only on products that are not highly processed and in which GMOs are a major ingredient. These products generally have the phrase "made with genetically engineering" on the ingredient list or elsewhere.
But most food companies have found that there isn't a market for GMO- labeled food. Rather than labeling their products, they have simply stopped using GMO ingredients. Major companies like Kellogg's have pledged to eliminate GMOs from their European products. Yet Kellogg's and others still use GMO in their food here. And since it's not labeled in America, most consumers don't know they're eating GMOs.
|
