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GM food*
Genetically Modified (GM) food
I would like to publish three articles, all in connection with GM food, on this site today. The 1st one, "Frankenstein foods", is taken from "The West Australian", an Australian news agency, concentrating on the economic impact of GM production in Australia itself. The 2nd article is taken from the Greenpeace homepage & the other one from sierraclub.org, another environmental organization. As you all can imagine Greenpeace is against GM food. But of course there are also a lot of people out there who think that GM food is the solution to many problems. So I want to hear your opinion.
What do you think?!
Frankenstein Foods
A RE rolling yellow fields of genetically modified canola the saviour of Australia's agricultural industry or its downfall?
From politicians to farmers, consumers to global conglomerates, opinion is polarised on whether gene technology holds the answer to restoring the agricultural industry to its former glory as one of the powerhouses of the Australian economy.
The debate received an extra kick along late last month, when Federal Gene Technology Regulator Sue Meek gave the green light to global giant Bayer CropScience to produce Australia's first commercial GM food crop - a hybrid canola marketed under the name InVigor.
In signing off on the licence, Dr Meek cleared InVigor - genetically modified to include a hybrid gene for boosting yield and one for tolerance of a Bayer broad-spectrum herbicide - as being "as safe to humans and the environment as conventional canola".
But in the same breath, she touched on perhaps the biggest hurdle facing companies such as Bayer in their attempts to win broad acceptance of GM crops.
"Clearly the marketing implications of my decision . . . need to be addressed separately by industry and State governments," she said.
Perhaps the most heated debate surrounding the issue of GM crops centres on the economic question: by allowing commercial production of GM food crops in Australia, are we growing our markets and revenues, or are we shutting them down?
If you ask Bayer, the news about GM canola, and InVigor in particular, is all good.
"(GM canola) was launched in Canada in 1997 as a commercial crop, so we can look at how it's been accepted in there and about 30 per cent of Canada's canola crop is now GM," said Bayer public affairs manager Naomi Stevens.
"There are about 4.5 million hectares of GM canola in the ground there this year, and about one million of that is InVigor. It continues to meet farmers' needs. It's hard to find the downside . . . it's achieving what it needs to in the marketplace."
According to Bayer, Australian growers who use InVigor in the traditional high-yielding canola growing areas - which includes WA's wheatbelt - can expect an extra $50 to $120 a hectare, with increased oil bonuses of up to 4 per cent.
In Canada, the company says, farmers have averaged a jump in gross returns of $96/ha from growing InVigor, along with a drop of 40 per cent in herbicide costs and fuel savings of about 31 million litres a year.
The move to GM is certainly gaining momentum. Worldwide, an estimated 68 per cent of soy bean, 49 per cent of cotton and 32 per cent of canola are already genetically modified, with more than 58 million hectares of GM crops believed to be in the ground. One of the fiercest arguments against the planting of GM crops comes from farmers concerned about contamination of non-GM crops through pollen drift.
Such contamination, they claim, will be disastrous if producers are required to certify products as GM-free in order to win over consumers, as well as potentially shutting Australian farmers out of international markets determined to ban GM products.
According to Ms Stevens, there's "no reason why both farmers can't happily coexist".
But that is perhaps the only point that both sides of the argument seem to agree on - that the idea of GM and non-GM growers farming side by side is unworkable.
"No one minds anyone having a choice, but what this choice does is remove choice for the non-GM growers, so now that it's been commercially released instead of them keeping it in, we've got to keep it out," said Julie Newman, one of the country's most vocal opponents of GM crops.
Ms Newman, who heads the Network of Concerned Farmers, said domestic dairies had zero tolerance of GM product in grain, while 30 per cent of the international customers of the Australian Wheat Board demand the same.
"Now that's impossible and really dangerous . . . you lose about 10 per cent of your crop on the ground when you're harvesting, and it grows again the following year and then you've got GM canola in your wheat crop," she said.
WA's peak farming body, the WA Farmers Federation, says it falls somewhere in the middle on the GM debate. But WAFF policy director Andy McMillan said the group was in agreement with Ms Newman on the idea of coexisting crops.
"It wouldn't work in a fit," he said.
THE WAFF's official policy supports the ongoing trials of GM crops, as well as a moratorium on the commercial release in WA for the next 12 months - a considerably shorter stretch than the WA Government's five-year ban.
"We probably consider the Government moratorium a little bit over the top. However, the Minister has indicated - when he is satisfied industry is ready to deal with the full impact - he would look at lifting it," Mr McMillan said.
He said while the WAFF had not officially polled its members, it believed between 15 and 20 per cent supported the introduction of GM crops and the same number opposed it.
"The big challenge, apart from the ethical and legal issues, is communication, to provide that group with the information they need to make a choice," he said.
But Bayer, and other companies like it, have at least one vocal supporter in WA in the Pastoralists & Graziers Association.
"Canada is the world's largest canola producer, controlling about 80 per cent of the market . . . and essentially at no extra cost they can produce more than we do in Australia," said Leon Bradley, chairman of the PGA's Western Grain Growers.
"So it shows if everything stayed the same we're going to be in tremendous cost disadvantage if we don't do this.
"WA farmers maintain their place in the world market because they're extremely efficient and very productive, and we're productive because we have always been able to adopt new technology - and now we're being banned from adopting the greatest technological advance since the tractor."
He claims there is no evidence global markets would reject GM produce.
"Canada sells into the most sensitive market in the world, which is Japan, with no difficulty," he said.
But a question mark remains over European markets despite European Union rules requiring member States to set up a framework for GM crop trials and eventual commercial use. A temporary ban on the import of GM crops for commercial use has been in place since 1998.
Source: TheWest.com.au
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Greenpeace consumer networks
Greenpeace opposes the irreversible releases of genetically engineered (GE) organisms into the environment because they carry unnecessary risks and bring unforeseeable damage to the environment, human health and sustainable agriculture.
Genetically engineered crops have been developed by the world's largest agro-chemical corporations to further their domination in global food production.
Farmers around the world are, as a result, more vulnerable to powerful transnational corporations who put profit before environmental sustainability and people's livelihoods.
Consumer resistance is having a major impact
Around the world people are rejecting GE foods. Due to consumer pressure many national retailers and food producers, as well as national subsidiaries of multinational companies, have given guarantees to keep GE ingredients out of their products.
In August 2000, Novartis, which used to be one of the world's leading producers of GE seeds before it spun off its agriculture business in October 2000, informed Greenpeace that it would no longer use GE ingredients in any of its food products worldwide.
Novartis is the first multinational company to make a global commitment to a non-GE standard in food. Unfortunately, many companies do not provide consumers with the same rights in all countries.
Double standards
Double standards are still common. High quality GE-free food is sold to European consumers while unlabelled genetically engineered food is sold elsewhere such as in Asia and the Americas (as, for example, is the case with Kelloggs).
Consumers have the right to know about GE ingredients in their food and the right to avoid GE food.
In order to help consumers find out whether the food they buy is GE-free or not, Greenpeace has set up consumer networks and is collecting information about food products and policies of food manufacturers and retailers in a number of countries. Find out what is happening in your country.
Source: Greenpeace.org
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Sierra Club Targets Kraft
The Sierra Club has launched a campaign against genetically engineered foods. We’re targeting Kraft Foods, which is the largest packaged food producer in America ($28 billion in annual sales). Kraft is itself a division of Philip Morris, the tobacco giant. We’re asking Kraft to remove all genetically engineered products from their foods. This includes not using milk from rBGH-treated cows and not using genetically engineered (GE) corn, potatoes, soy and so forth.
Recently Kraft recalled Taco Bell brand taco shells containing GE corn approved only as animal feed. We applaud this first step, but it’s not enough. We’re asking Kraft to entirely renounce GE ingredients in all their products.
What you can do:
Tell Kraft that you, like the majority of Americans, want GE free foods!
- Write to Betsy Holden, CEO of Kraft Foods, Inc.,3 Lakes Drive, Northfield IL 60093
- Call 1-800-847-1997
- E-mail Michael Mudd, Senior Vice President, Corporate Affairs at mmudd@kraft.com
We’re orchestrating a huge effort to distribute pre-printed postcards. Contact Jim Diamond, Genetic Engineering Committee Chair, for a supply of postcards to send to Kraft.
Here’s sample message:
I'm writing to ask you to remove genetically engineered (GE) products from your foods, just as I'm trying to remove them from my table.
Transgenic crops - crops which have been genetically adulterated with viral, bacterial, and animal genes - pose environmental risks and I believe shouldn't be in our food supply until better tested and clearly labeled. Dairy products made from rBGH-treated cows are banned in many countries as possibly contributing to cancer. For our health and the environment, I ask that you move to GE free production.
Examples of Products Sold by Kraft/Philip Morris:
DAIRY: Kraft Macaroni Cheese, Kraft, Velveeta, Philadelphia Cream Cheese, Knudsens, Breyers, Kraft Parmesan, Kraft Singles, Kraft Taste of Life, Minute Tapioca, Athenos Cheese, Cheez Whiz, Cracker Barrel, Sealtest, Breakstone's, Light N Lively
PIZZA: Tombstone, Jacks, DiGiorno's
KID-FRIENDLY PRODUCTS: Barnum's Animal crackers, Chips Ahoy, and Jell-O
POST Cereals: Alpha-Bits, Grape Nuts, Raisin Brans, Banana Nut Crunch, Pebbles, Toasties, Oreo's, etc.
NABISCO: Oreo, Chips Ahoy!, Snackwell's, Newtons, Ritz, Premium, Nabisco Honey Maid Grahams, Triscuit, Air Crisps, Wheat Thins, Nilla, Nutter Butter, Stella D'Oro, Better Cheddars, Cheese Nips, Barnum's Animal Crackers and Toastettes (as well as myriad line extensions of many of these brands.)
LIFESAVERS: Life Savers, Breath Savers, Care*Free, Ice Breakers, Bubble Yum, Gummi Savers, Now & Later and Fruit Stripe, etc
BOCA BURGER
MISC: Minute Rice, Miracle Whip, Good Seasons, Sure Jell, Certo, Kool-Aid, Seven Seas, Country Time, Taco Bell Home Originals, Baker's Baking Products, Maxwell House Coffee, Sanka, Yuban Coffee, General Foods International Coffee, Cool Whip, Dream Whip, Claussen Pickles, DiGiorno Italian Sauces, Calumet Baking Powder, Shake N Bake, Oven Fry, Altoids, Toblerone Chocolate, Stove Top Stuffing, Capri Juice Drinks, Crystal Light, Tang, Bull's Eye Barbecue Sauce
DELI: Oscar Meyer Products, Louis Rich Products
PLANTERS: nuts; also manufactures and markets sauces and condiments, pet snacks, hot cereals, dry mix desserts and gelatins that include such brand names as A.1., Grey Poupon, Milk-Bone, Cream of Wheat, Royal and Knox.
COFFEE: Maxwell, Sanka, Yuban
MISC: Bakers Chocolate, Capri Sun, Cool Whip, Country Time, Crystal Light, Deli-Deluxe,Good Seasons, Jell-O, Kool-Aid, Kraft Barbeque Sauce, Kraft Taste of Life, Light Done Right, Minute Rice, Minute Tapioca, Miracle Whip, Polly-O, Stove Top, Stove Top Oven Classics, Surejell
Source: SierraClub.org
Check out this little show: Krafty.org
~peace~
