NOFA/Massachusetts Policy on
Genetically Modified Organisms
Why Do Massachusetts Organic Growers Oppose Genetic Engineering?
Genetic Engineering (GE) is a revolutionary new technology with the ability to extract genes from one form of life and insert them into another. In doing so it can create totally new organisms which will pass these genetic changes on to their offspring. Why do people of the soil oppose that?
Because it is out of control.
In 1992 the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ruled, against the recommendations of their own staff scientists, that GE foods are "substantially equivalent" to traditional foods. As a result:
- no independent, long-term safety testing is required - the firms which will benefit from the new GE foods are in charge of safety-testing their own products, and are not required to report negative findings,
- research results of these tests are considered proprietary and therefore are not available for public scrutiny,
- there is no significant evaluation of the technology for ecological impacts, and
- there is no required consumer labeling of GE foods.
As a result of this loose regulatory atmosphere, GE has flourished in a few short years. With first field trials begun only in 1992, over 3000 varieties of GE plants, animals and bacteria have been developed and field tested in the US. GE crops by 1999 were planted worldwide on over 98 million acres. Now some 60 percent of all processed foods in grocery stores contain at least some GE ingredients, usually in the form of corn or soy derivatives.
To ensure continued lax regulation, the biotechnology industry has established a revolving door relationship with regulators. Monsanto, for instance, has:
- a director, Mickey Kantor, who was the US Secretary of Commerce,
- another director, William Ruckelshaus, who was chief of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA),
- a vice president, Michael Friedman, who was an acting FDA commissioner.
- a vice president, Michael Taylor, who was an executive assistant to the FDA commissioner,
- a vice president, Linda Fisher, who was an assistant administrator at the EPA,
- a chief legal strategist, Jack Watson, who was a White House chief of staff, and
- a director of government affairs, Marcia Hale, who was an assistant to President Clinton for intergovernmental affairs.
Because it will hurt the environment.
Increased Pesticide Use: Contrary to industry claims, studies have found that US farmers growing GE crops are using as many (and sometimes more) toxic pesticides and herbicides as conventional farmers. Crops engineered to be herbicide resistant accounted for 70% of all GE crops in 1998. The 'advantage' of these crops is that heavy doses of herbicides can be used on them to kill weeds in the field without disturbing the crop. Scientists estimate that such crops triple the amount of toxic broad-spectrum herbicides used in agriculture.
Genetic Pollution: Wind, rain, birds, bees, and other insects carry GE pollen into adjoining fields where it pollinates non-GE crops, contaminating their DNA. Pollen of some crops has been shown to travel several miles, and gene escape from cultivated crops has been documented for cotton, cucumber, corn, millet, canola, quinoa, radish, rice, sorghum, strawberry, sugarbeets, sunflowers and watermelon. Once released, it is impossible to recall GE organisms as they are alive and rapidly mix with natural organisms.
Damage to Beneficial Organisms: Cornell University recently discovered that pollen from corn genetically engineered to release a pesticide was poisonous to a non-target insect, namely the Monarch butterfly. There is growing evidence that GE crops are adversely affecting several varieties of beneficial insects, including ladybugs and lacewings, as well as beneficial soil microorganisms, bees, and birds.
Creation of 'Superweeds' and 'Superpests': Pests and weeds exposed to constant and high levels of herbicides and pesticides because of GE crops will inevitably develop resistance to those chemicals. As a result, 'superweeds' and 'superpests' will emerge which will have to be controlled with even more toxic poisons. Eleven out of the world's worst 18 weeds are also grown as crops. GE canola has already spread herbicide resistance to wild mustard plants, and boll worms are emerging which are resistant to the Bt engineered into cotton plants.
Virulent New Plant and Soil Pathogens: Engineering plants to resist viruses has been shown to cause viruses to mutate into new, more virulent forms. Similarly, engineered soil microorganisms have destroyed all other competing organisms, rendering the soil 'dead' of essential nutrients.
Invasive New Species: Just as kudzu and gypsy moths have run amok in new environments without natural enemies, so some GE species will overpower their natural cousins with unpredictable consequences.
Loss of biodiversity: The more varieties of a particular crop species are grown, the more resilient it is. Different varieties have differing resistance to attack from particular pathogens or predators, as well as vulnerability to temperature or moisture extremes. As old varieties become replaced with one or two new engineered ones, that crop becomes more susceptible to catastrophic loss to disease, pest or weather conditions.
Because it is a threat to family farms.
Monopolistic control of seeds: Farming is dependent on the use of seeds. These used to be saved from season to season, but as hybrid and now GE seeds are developed, many farmers purchase their seed. If there are many potential seed suppliers, competition will maintain fair prices. But recognizing the huge profits associated with biotechnology, agrochemical companies have been acquiring seed companies since the early 1990s. Today 75% of the global vegetable seed market is controlled by 5 corporations. Three of these are among the world's largest agrochemical firms.
Loss of economic independence; An ecosystem is rich when a variety of organisms thrive there in mutual dependence. The same can be said for farms - diversity in farm size, markets, and crop mix makes for overall stability and strength. If GE seeds become the norm, fewer and fewer varieties will be available and those which are will be patented and licensed products. Independent family farms will become franchises, dependent on agricultural biotech firms for inputs and management services.
Presumption of guilt: As GE crops come to dominate US production, buyers in Europe and Japan are refusing shipments from America unless they can be guaranteed GE-free. Farmers who don't use GE seed are being forced to bear the extra expense of segregating and testing their crops in order to prove they don't use this controversial technology.
Contamination of organic crops: Organic farmers are currently required to maintain buffer zones between their crops and those of neighboring farmers who use prohibited chemicals on their fields. But pollen can travel long distances, and there is no way to protect an organic crop from pollination by a GE crop even several miles away. Use of GE by some is a serious threat to organic farmers whose markets require contaminant-free food.
Toxicity: Genetic engineering is not yet an exact science. A successful GE organism is the result of many thousands of trials and random insertions of genes into target cells. The surviving cells are then screened to see if they exhibit the desired characteristic. But genes work in combination, and new combinations can have novel characteristics -- including toxicity to humans -- which cannot be predicted in advance. FDA scientists warned of this problem in 1992, saying that GE can result in the: "appearance of new, not previously identified toxicants" They recommended that long-term toxicological tests be required prior to the marketing of GE foods. The FDA ignored their own scientists, however, and refused to require such testing despite early GE debacles such as the 1989 engineered Japanese L-tryptophan supplement which resulted in 1500 illnesses, 37 deaths, and cost the manufacturer over $2 billion in damages to date. In 1999 British researcher Dr. Arpad Pusztai found that GE potatoes spliced with genes from the snowdrop plant and the California Mosaic Virus (CaMv) damaged the vital organs and immune systems of mammals. The likely suspect was the CaMv itself, a promoter spliced into nearly all GE foods.
Allergic reactions: Children are most at risk for allergic reactions - which can be fatal. Close to 10% of current US children have been diagnosed with food allergies. Allergies are usually triggered by a specific protein in food. GE foods can cause allergic reactions in two ways:
- Genes from one food can be inserted in another, causing the new food to produce the old protein. Because no GE labeling is required, however, individuals who know they are allergic to the old food will have no knowledge that the dangerous protein is now in the new one.
- Novel proteins can be created by the new combinations of genes present in GE foods. No one knows whether or not individuals will have allergic reactions to these proteins, because they have never been seen in nature before.
Antibiotic resistance: Genetic engineers insert genes for antibiotic resistance into their creations to mark whether the new genetic material has been successfully transferred. Medical professionals, however, have become increasingly concerned that this practice will lead to the transfer of antibiotic resistance to disease organisms in the environment and the resulting loss of effectiveness of key antibiotics in controlling major threats to public health.
Growth of cancers: At least one GE product - recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH) - has been shown to increase the levels of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) in milk. This hormone can survive digestion and make its way into the intestines and blood stream of consumers. This is significant because IGF-1 has been documented to be an important factor in the growth of breast, prostate and colon cancers. No other industrialized country in the world has legalized the use of rBGH in milk production.
Loss of nutrition: Genetically engineered foods are inherently less stable than their natural counterparts. The random nature of modifications, and the fact that genes work in combination, mean that scientists cannot be sure of all the changes they have introduced into GE products. Researchers from the FDA's Division of Food Chemistry and Technology in 1992 specifically warned the agency that genetic engineering could result in "undesirable alteration in the level of nutrients" in foods. They further noted that these changes "may escape breeders' attention unless genetically engineered plants are evaluated specifically for these changes." The FDA, however, required no such evaluation.
What Can You Do About Genetic Engineering?
Educate yourself: For more information, contact:
NOFA/Mass, 978-355-2853, jack@nofamass.org
Campaign to Label GE Food, 425-771-4049, label@thecampaign.org, www.thecampaign.org
Alliance for Bio-Integrity, 515-472-5554, info@biointegrity.org, www.biointegrity.org
Institute for Agricultural and Trade Policy, 612-870-3417, gflora@iatp.org, www.iatp.org
Center for Food Safety, 202-547-9359, office@centerforfoodsafety.org, www.centerforfoodsafety.org
The Bio-Democracy Campaign, 218-226-4164, info@organicconsumers.org, www.purefood.org
Organize educational events in your community: Consumer organizations, garden clubs, church groups, classroom projects -- there are lots of opportunities in any community to educate others about GE foods. Contact NOFA/Mass for literature and possible speakers to get things rolling.
Talk to your public officials: Let them know that you are concerned about GE foods and want a moratorium on their use until:
- they are adequately tested for human safety and environmental impact,
- mandatory labels are required on them so that consumers may choose to buy them or not, and
- adequate liability insurance is required of GE corporations and labs so that victims of this technology in the future may seek damages.
Buy local certified organic foods: Since GE products are not labeled, the only way you can be sure you are buying food raised without genetic engineering in any way is to look for the "certified organic" logo. All US certification programs forbid the use of GE products or methods in food production. If the products are locally raised, you can have the extra assurance of meeting the growers and talking with them about their farm and growing methods.
Support NOFA/Mass: Send a contribution, or join and help us fight GE foods while promoting the growth of local, organic products. Many of us are farmers, but many more are gardeners, students, organic consumers and people concerned about the health and sustainability of local agriculture.
Copies of this Web page are available as a brochure. Contact the NOFA/Mass Social Action Coordinator, 411 Sheldon Rd., Barre, MA 01005; 978-355-4046; email jack@nofamass.org for your copy. Or you can download the .pdf version here
This page was last modified on January 21, 2008 at 5:17:23 PM.
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