Avoiding Genetically Engineered Food

Finally concerns about gene-tically engineered (GE) foods, a.k.a. GMOs (genetically modified organisms) have become main-stream. Here at the Co-op, we have been working to educate consumers about the health and safety, environmental and ethical issues surrounding this relatively new and untested technology since the first GE product to experience widespread commercialization, rBGH (bovine growth hormone) hit the market in the mid-nineties.

Since then, independent scientists have confirmed what farmers learned firsthand: rBGH is not healthy, not for cows, not for humans. In cows, rBGH increased mastitis, an infection of the udder, caused sores at the point of injection and other health problems and is decimating herds, with some cows literally dropping dead in the fields from heart failure due to drug-induced physical stress. In humans it is linked, among other health effects, to increased breast cancer due to the increase in IGF-1, a growth hormone we share with cows. Fewer farmers are using the GE animal drug but the fact remains that conventional, commercial milk is often mixed in regional holding tanks.

To avoid rBGH, purchase milk and milk products includ-ing ice cream, yogurt, butter, and cheese from certified organic farms. When organic cheese is not available, imports from Europe are a good bet, as the European Union has declared a moratorium on the use of rBGH that is still in effect.

In a mere three years the proportion of GMOs in the food supply has increased considerably. In particular, GE soybeans (Roundup Ready Soy is Monsanto’s brand name, other corporations have their own trade names for similar products), corn (Bt corn) and canola because of their ubi-quitousness in the food supply are of grave concern. The num-bers vary slightly depending on who you listen to, but it is clear that last year 50% or more of the harvest of each of these crops were grown from GE seeds.

The fourth crop to have experienced wide distribution is potatoes (brand name “New Leaf”). There are many more GE foods in various stages (testing, approval process, manufacturing) of the commercialization pipeline. Because corporations like Monsanto, Dow, Dupont and Astrazeneca have such power in Washington, these crops were deemed by the government agen-cies (FDA, EPA) mandated to pro-tect our health and welfare to be the same as conventionally bred crops and released into the envi-ronment and onto supermarket shelves without adequate testing for long term health and safety. Conventionally bred crops and GMOs were mixed in grain silos to further force the sale and con-sumption of the new technology. And labeling of these materials was deemed unnecessary by these same agencies.

What this means for con-sumers is that all products containing soy beans, soy oil, soy lecithin, soy protein and other soy derivatives, corn, corn oil, high frutose corn syrup, and other corn pro-ducts and canola oil could all contain contaminated DNA. Much of the GE corn and soy has found its way into animal feeds. The effects are not well understood but research in Scotland (see last month’s Connection) has shown serious changes in the gastrointestinal tracts of test animals. With these ingredients in hundreds of thousands of products from food to supplements to personal care products to pet foods, consumers face a daunting task.

Certified Organic products remain your safest bet if you wish to avoid GMOs. However, because of the nature of, well, nature, even certified organic products, especially corn and canola (because they are not self-pollinating like soybeans) are subject to “pollen drift” and could be contaminated with “altered” pollen. One manufacturer, Terra Prima destroyed $87,000 worth of their certified organic corn chips when they found that the certified organic farmer they purchase corn from had been contaminated by pollen drift from a nearby Bt corn plot. Researchers have found “altered” pollen in a honeybee hive 2.8 miles from its original test field. This in itself points up one of the more insidious problems with introducing GMOs into the envi-ronment; once allowed out of the laboratory there is no controlling them. It is this very issue that is under much discussion at the National Organic Standards Board and the subject of lawsuits among farming, environmental and health coalitions.

Beware of large supermarket chains that make sweeping statements about products containing GMOs. The reality is, even in the “natural foods” industry, at this time it’s just not possible to know. Most manufacturers have just begun to utilize available DNA tests that confirm or deny the pre-sence of “altered” DNA. Most manufacturers have not yet tested every one of their products nor every batch of raw material they have purchased in the last year. However, there are certain manufacturers that have pledged to use only GMO-free products (see sidebar). Even with the possibility of pollen drift contamination, these folks are heading in the right direction.

The Good News
The good news is that because genetically engineered crop yields were not as high as farmers had been led to expect, did not offset the higher cost of seed and licensing, and because farmers that planted GMOs last year had trouble selling their crops, some farmers are choosing not to plant GMOs this year. We can only hope that the number of farmers making this decision will swell.

Also, because European consumers and manufacturers refused GMOs, grain dealers who had mixed their conventional and GMO crops were left holding the bag, costing American farmers millions of dollars in lost sales. Even big agribusiness types are finding ways to separate conventional and GE harvests in the coming year. The potential out-come is that by next year we should have an easier time telling “altered” from true corn, soy and canola. Except, of course, the pollen drift problem will still be with us. In an effort to prevent a replay of problems like the one Pioneer Hi-Breed experienced last year in which it sold “altered” seed stock as conventional, this spring, DNA testing should focus on seed stocks to prevent the sale of contaminated seed to farmers choosing to plant GMO-free crops. This is especially true for soy, corn, canola or cotton seed. Farmers are urged to ask for DNA verification for their conven-tional seed purchases.

Customers are encouraged to support the mandatory labeling bill introduced in the House and mount grassroots efforts for simi-lar legislation in the Senate. Con-sumers are also urged to continue the grassroots outcry against GMOs and support all class action lawsuits to prevent the further genetic contamination of the whole planet by halting the continuing introduction of “altered DNA” into the environment. The market-place remains one of our most powerful tools. Each time we purchase “certified organic foods,” we have raised our voice to halt the spread of GMOs.

We at La Montanita maintain our commitment to preventing the “life sciences” corporations from using us as unwilling test subjects and contaminating the planet, in the largest global research project since the first atom bomb mushroomed its radioactive parti-cles above our state. The effects of this “biological technology” (biotech), with its mixing of spe-cies at the cellular level by recom-bining DNA, the very stuff of life, and patent laws which now allow corporations ownership of the most basic materials of creation, has the potential to eclipse in catastrophic possibilities all of humankind’s previous actions.