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The
Grains of Truth
What are GMOs and what is genetic engineering?Scientists create GMOs - genetically modified organisms - by transferring genes horizontally between species that do not interbreed. (Breeding by normal reproduction transfers genes vertically from parents to offspring.) For example, instead of being restricted to crossing two types of tomato to achieve a hybrid with favourable characteristics, engineers can take genes from a flounder and, using a gene gun, shoot them into a tomato. Scientists admit that they do not fully understand genetic structures or what will happen when they shoot genes from one organism into another. It is well known that genetic engineering can have unintended side effects. Engineers might insert multiple copies of a gene or "switch" on or off other genes. For instance, Roundup Ready soybeans were shown to crack in high temperatures. Types of trans-genic crops Herbicide resistant: Biotechnology companies, with the help of public (i.e., taxpayer funded) universities, have genetically engineered plants to resist herbicides. Monsanto is the undisputed leader in this effort with its Roundup Ready soybeans, cotton, corn, canola and sugar beets that resist Roundup. (Glyphosate is the generic chemical used in Monsanto's commercial formulation called Roundup.) Roundup Ready soybeans, for example, allow farmers to spray glyphosate to kill weeds without hurting the soybeans. Insecticidal: Scientists have inserted the insecticidal bacterium bacillusthuringiensis (Bt) into the DNA of corn, cotton and potatoes to deter or kill Lepidoptera and Coleoptera, including bollworm in cotton, stem borers in corn and the Colorado potato beetle in potatoes. In essence, the plants are insecticides. The biotechnology-agribusiness chemical industry promises that its herbicide - and pest-resistant crops yield more and require less use of toxic pesticides (the very ones that that these companies produce),which will help to reduce hunger in the developing world and to improve the environment. U.S. and Canadian farmers have more or less endorsed the crops since their initial commercialisation in 1995 and 1996. In 2000, one quarter of the corn crop, more than 60 percent of soybeans and almost three-quarters of the cotton crop were genetically engineered, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Now, at least 50 types of transgenic varieties, mostly cotton, soybeans, corn and canola are on the market and under cultivation. Hunger persists despite the fact that food production in the last 35 to 40 years has surpassed population growth by about 16 percent. The real cause of hunger is lack of access to food because people don't have money or land, not because there isn't enough food to go around. 1 "Total herbicide use on RR (Roundup Ready) soybeans in 1998 was 30 percent or more greater on average than on conventional varieties in six states, including Iowa where about one-sixth of the nation's soybeans are grown. Herbicide use was 10 percent higher in three other states. Use on PR soybeans was modestly lower in five states. Use was significantly lower only in Michigan, where less than 3 percent of the nations' soybeans are grown…Looking ahead to crop year 2001, it is likely that the average acre of RR soybeans will be treated with about 0.5 pounds more herbicide active ingredient than conventional soybeans. As a result over 20 million more pounds of herbicides will be applied thiscrop year."2 What's more, weeds are gaining resistance to Roundup, meaning that farmers have to spray other more toxic chemicals. The story is similar with Bt crops. Overall, with the possible exception of cotton, cultivation of these transgenic varieties has not reduced the amount of insecticides that farmers are applying.3 Scientific concern also is growing that, like weeds, the flying and borer pests that Bt repels will soon grow resistant. Were this to happen, farmers might revert to using more toxic insecticides. Roundup Ready canola wreaks havoc The situation with herbicide-resistant canola in Canada is particularly worrisome. The oilseed plant, which cross-pollinates easily, has spread to the point that it is now considered a weed. Some of the plant populations of the weedy canola have developed triple herbicide resistance through cross-pollination with the genetically engineered varieties being grown commercially. When the resistant varieties blow onto other fields, farmers must resort to stronger herbicides to kill them. The spread of transgenic canola has hindered the production of conventional and organic varieties. "Stray pollen and seed from genetically modified oilseed rape, or canola, is now so widespread in Canada that it is difficult to grow conventional or organic strains without them being contaminated. That is the stark message from Hugh Beckie of the agriculture ministry's Saskatoon Research Centre, which has been monitoring GM crops since commercial farming began six years ago. Canada's experience provides valuable lessons for other parts of the world, such as Europe, that don't yet allow commercial production."4 The cost to farmers Farmers must pay more to grow genetically modified crops. "By producing my own seed, my per acre cost of planting soybeans on my own farm is $6.51 per acre," says Bill Christison, Missouri farmer and president of the National Family Farm Coalition. "If I bought the same number of pounds of Round-up Ready seed, my per acre cost would be$42." Biotechnology companies want to make as much money as possible from transgenic crops, so they need for farmers to buy new seed every year. To that end, they had to go around the profit-diminishing exception to the Plant Variety Protection Act of 1970 that honours farmers' centuries-old right to save seed. Patents were the way to do that. Monsanto, Pioneer Hi-Bred and other companies got utility patents under section 101 of the Patent Act (Title35 of the U.S. Code). The companies claim that these patents legally prevent both farmers from saving the genetically modified seeds for their own use and researchers from experimenting. Christison, a seed saver, explains the issue: "Many farmers are seed savers. The fact is I have always used saved seeds to plant the majority of my soybean crop. The reasons are simple. I plant conventional seeds and the costs of those seed are less than 20 percent of the costs of genetically engineered seed. If I chose to plant genetically engineered seed, research has shown I would need to expect 5 to 10 percent less yield. Instead of using 12 to 14 ounces of chemicals, I would probably need 75 ounces." Monsanto is suing dozens of U.S. farmers. It alleges that they illegally saved Roundup Ready soybean seed, an infringement of its patents. To monitor farmers, the company has placed radio ads encouraging neighbours to spy on one another and has sent private investigators to trespass on fields to sample crop genetics. Markets just say, "NO" Even as biotechnology companies churn out new transgenic varieties and push governments to allow field-testing, food and feed markets around the world want to avoid food produced with this technology. Corn and soy exports to Europe, historically an important market for U.S. food and feed products, are down by almost $1 billion, due in large part to rejection of genetically modified foods, according to the USDA figures. From October through November of FY 2000, feed and fodder exports to the European market had declined by 9 percent, soybean export sales by20 percent, and planting seed exports by 14 percent. Markets for corn also crashed last year when StarLink, a Bt corn variety that the U.S. government had approved only for industrial use or livestock feed, contaminated the human food supply. Iowa farmers planted 1 percent of their crop with StarLink. By harvest time, 50 percent registered positive for the genetically engineeredvariety.5 In fact, Bt varieties have contaminated much of the U.S. corn supply. "The widespread adoption of GM crops in the U.S. makes it difficult to ensure that grain is not being contaminated with genetically modified organisms (GMOs) as it is handled and transported from the field to the end customer. Industry insiders even question whether the foundation(parent) seed for non-GM varieties can meet a 1 percent purity level, "according to the November 2000 edition of Farmindustrynews.com.5 "Our investigations thus far from the 2000 harvest lead us to believe that virtually all of the seed corn in the United states is contaminated with at least a trace of genetically engineered material, and often more. Even the organic lots are showing traces of biotech varieties," said David Gould in an interview for CropChoice.com.5 Despite the bad news for markets, Monsanto continues preparing to commercialize a Roundup Ready wheat. It cares not that European, Asian and Middle Eastern countries have warned repeatedly that they do not want and will not buy such wheat.6 Organic farming threatened Those who grow food organically - which is to say that they avoid using synthetic pesticides and fertilizers - are concerned about this issue. International standards disallow the presence of transgenic traits in such crops. But that hasn't stopped GMOs from contaminating organic crops, just as they've done to conventional varieties. Farmers face the loss of their certification and economic viability. "Since January 1, 2001, the Danish Plant Directorate under the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries has been quietly testing organic feed for GMOs. The results of the most recent test of organic feed were published August1, 2001. Almost half of the samples revealed GMO content."7 Growers of organic canola in Canada have all but given up on the crop and now wheat growers fear the same fate awaits them if Monsanto is allowed to commercialize Roundup Ready wheat. Despite the loss of their crops and markets, organic growers have little legal redress as governments refuse to make the biotech industry responsible for its technology and liable for any environmental, agronomic, economic or health damage arising from it. " 'It's their genetics. I wish they'd keep them,' says (David) Vetter, who grows corn, popcorn, soybeans, grasses and small grains near Marquette(Neb). 'They've introduced technology that they can't manage and now I have to pay the bills.'…Genetic testing revealed .1 percent Bt contamination of his 2000 corn harvest. Given that he had verified the purity of the seeds, Vetter attributes the problem to cross-pollination with transgenic corn on nearby fields… 'The longer the planting of gmo crops goes on, the worse the cross-contamination will become. The StarLink fiasco shows that the industry does not have the ability to manage thetechnology.'"8 Sources 1. Lappe, Francis Moore, Collins, Joseph and Rosset, Peter "WorldHunger: Twelve Myths," Grove Press, New York, 1998, http://www.foodfirst.org/pubs/backgr drs/1998/s98v5n3.html 2. Troubled Times Amid Commercial Success for Roundup Ready Soybeans: Glyphosate Efficacy is Slipping and Unstable Transgene Expression Erodes Plant Defenses and Yields, Dr. Charles M. Benbrook, Northwest Science and Environmental Policy Center, May 2001,http://www.biotechinfo. net/troubledtimes.html 3. Do GM crops mean less pesticide use?, Pesticide Outlook, October2001 4. Keep your distance, New Scientist; November 24, 2001; This Week,Pg. 14; 387 5. Organic crop certifiers decry transgenic contamination,CropChoice.com, May 2001, http://www.cropchoice.com/leadstry. asp?recid=310 6. Farmers, foreign markets send negative signals about Roundup Readywheat, CropChoice.com, February 2001,http://www.cropchoice.com/leadstry. asp?recid=228 7. FAS Online,http://www.fas.usda.gov/htp/organic s/2001/nov01.htm 8. Nebraska organic farmer bears costs of GM testing, CropChoice.com,April 2001, http://www.cropchoice.com/leadstry. asp?recid=289 Resources Greenpeace Genetic Engineering campaignhttp://www.greenpeaceusa.org/ge Northwest Science and Environmental Policy Centerhttp://www.biotech-info.net
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