By Brent Blackwelder. Brent
Blackwelder is president of Friends of
the Earth.
March 3, 1999
Flexing its superpower muscle, the United
States compromised the safety of the world's
food supply recently by torpedoing global
negotiations on a Biosafety Protocol in
Cartagena, Colombia. The U.S. government
and a handful of other nations derailed safety
standards for international trade of
genetically modified organisms--seeds, plants
and animals that have had their DNA, the
blueprint of life, altered. This decision to
elevate the interests of powerful biotech
corporations over the protection of human
health and the environment could return to
haunt consumers at home and abroad.
Worldwide, consumers have said an
emphatic "no" to genetically modified foods
and commodities. Dubbing it "Frankenstein
food," Europeans have urged their
governments to ban gene-altered food and
have pressured supermarkets to clearly label
the products of genetic engineering. Some
farmers in India, fearing the consequences
for their traditional methods of farming, have
set fire to fields of altered crops, and polls
conducted in New Zealand, Australia and the
United States have all shown that citizens
want labeling of genetically engineered
foods. This year, a Time magazine poll found
that 58 percent of Americans would avoid
purchasing genetically altered foods if they
were labeled so.
Unfortunately, U.S. consumers are being
kept in the dark. Americans already are
buying or could soon buy such items as
tomatoes with fish genes, potatoes containing
chicken genes, and corn with insect genes.
The Food and Drug Administration has been
petitioned to require labeling of gene-altered
foods, just as sulfites and other additives
must be listed on food labels, but no action
has been taken. This means there are no
requirements for food companies to label
foods that have been genetically altered.
The biotechnology industry touts genetically
engineered crops as the wave of the future.
In truth, bioengineering moves U.S.
agriculture away from family farms and
organic growing methods that more and
more consumers are embracing.
Meddling with nature on the genetic level
also poses potential threats to our health and
the environment. Scientists predict that
"biological pollution" resulting from the
release of genetically modified organisms
into the environment will pose as significant a
risk to humans and the planet as chemical
pollution. Living organisms grow and mutate
and don't respect field boundaries or national
borders. Once released, they cannot be
"mopped up."
Threats to the environment include plants
genetically engineered to produce toxins
poisonous to insect predators. These new
"insect-resistant" crops are likely to
accelerate the natural evolution of
"superbugs" that have developed resistance
to the plant's built-in pesticide, and they are
likely to kill beneficial insects as well as
harmful ones. Despite industry claims to the
contrary, genetic engineering offers little
prospect for reducing chemical use.
About two-thirds of the genetically
engineered crops being grown for
commercial use have been engineered to be
tolerant of a specific herbicide--a trait that
only encourages chemical use.
With so many potential pitfalls and the doubts
about its benefits, the U.S. government
should take a precautionary approach to
genetic engineering.
Any other approach is a gamble with our
health and our environment.
Valerie Frances
Fair Agri-Chemical Tax (FACT) Campaign
Friends of the Earth
Ph: (202) 783-7400 (x.258) Fx: 783-0444
1025 Vermont Ave., NW 3rd Floor
Washington, DC 20005
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