Imagine a world where our food is growing fast with no weeds or pests. Imagine a world where fish grow five times as fast as they do now so we can eat them sooner. Imagine a world where hunger is solved by changing the genetics of everything we consume.
Over 15 years ago scientists started along a revolutionary road to solve world hunger. To quote the Monsanto Corporation website – by 2050 nine billion people will need food, fuel and clothing – how will this happen? The solution they saw was to engineer the genetics of our food to find ways to grow it better, with less loss to weeds and insects, or to find ways to eliminate diseases in our food sources.
But while scientists are still imagining, their work has yet to fulfill the promised solutions according to Lucy Sharratt, co-ordinator for the Canadian Biotechnology Action Network. Sharratt was in Grand Forks on Wednesday as a part of a tour in B.C. during National Biotechnology Week.
“The technology certainly hasn’t fulfilled its public promise for these fantastical new crops and foods. Instead what we see very clearly is contamination, environmental risk, corporate control because these are patented technologies,” said Sharratt. “That’s why genetic engineering is a powerful technology. That’s why corporations love to use it – is because they can then claim ownership over the seeds themselves.”
With all the scientific work done over the past 15 years, Sharratt said there are only seven actual genetically modified plants on the market in North America: corn, canola, soy, sugar beet (all available in Canada) and cottonseed (India, China and United States), papaya, squash and milk products (in the United States only). Most plants are modified to be resistant to herbicides or insects.
“Even on its own terms with these two traits of herbicide tolerance and insect resistance we see that the system is failing,” said Sharratt.
Fears from farmers are based in cross-contamination issues. Even if farmers are not organic, the GM seeds can cross into their crops, and, as has happened in the recent past, not only are their crops contaminated, but corporations can sue farmers for using their seeds.
“For five years the Manitoba Association and other associations of farmers have tried to stop GM alfalfa – they’ve made that very clear to the federal government,” Sharratt continued. “It is not available in Canada yet, but it has been approved for safe eating and environmental release. The problem with alfalfa is that it’s pollinated by bees, it’s a perennial crop, it will quickly spread, contaminate. For organic certification of course that’s a very serious problem. It’s a very unique crop and the contamination is potentially very devastating.”
Two other new products are also up for approvals by Health Canada and the American Federal Department of Agriculture: the Enviropig ™ and a GM Atlantic salmon. The new pigs are modified to excrete less phosphorous, while the salmon is being engineered to grow five times faster than regular salmon. Both are products of Canadian scientists.
Genetic modification (GM or genetically modified organisms GMO) is the process of changing plants or animals at the molecular level by inserting genes or DNA segments from other organisms. Unlike conventional breeding and hybridization, the process of genetic modification enables the direct transfer of genes between different species or kingdoms that would not breed in nature.
Of importance to Sharratt is the fact that you may not know when you are consuming GM products. Canada does not require labelling of processed food products to identify GMOs so they may be present in your food.
But for Sharratt the science itself does not scare her, the biggest issue is the lack of consultation and testing over approvals for the new products being created by labs in Canada and the United States. The process is done in secret, and can rack havoc on markets for agricultural products, she added.
“The Canadian government has no mechanism to consult farmers and it’s literally irrelevant in our regulation, this question of market harm,” said Sharratt. “Flax farmers say: GM flax will destroy their market, alfalfa farmers and farmers who use alfalfa say GM alfalfa will destroy their market. That’s irrelevant, it doesn’t matter. If it’s safe for eating and it’s safe for the environment, it will be put out into the environment. Unless politically we stop it.”
Solutions lie in protecting local food systems so they remain free of these products, potential for local governments to declare their region as GM free areas, step up to participate in campaigns to force consultation at the government level and share information.
“The mentality in government is that if we haven’t had thousands of people dying from this it’s probably ok,” Atamanenko commented. “No where is there a precautionary principle. The science is flawed. There is a minimum of two years (for approval) for pharmaceuticals and still there are problems with products on the market. It’s a tough battle.”
Sharratt shared the forum panel with Roly Russell, president of GFBRAS and a PHD in sustainable systems; Sheila Dobie, seed bank volunteer and organic farmer; and JJ Verigin, Union of Spiritual Communities of Christ.
The forum, held at the Grand Forks Seniors Hall and attended by 100 people, was organized by MP Alex Atamanenko and the Grand Forks and Boundary Regional Agricultural Society (GFBRAS). Atamanenko attempted to pass a bill last year in Canadian parliament that called for analysis of potential harm to export markets as a test for all new requests for approval on GM products. The bill was defeated by the Conservative and Liberal parties at the time.
