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by author Lucy Sharratt
This fall Canadians may well be eating a corn called “SmartStax” that has not one, not two, but eight genetically modified (GM) traits.
SmartStax’s approval is highly controversial for a few reasons—the main one being that Health Canada did not assess SmartStax corn for human health safety.
GM is everywhere and nowhere
At present Canadian farmers grow only four genetically modified crops. Three of these—corn, canola, and soy—are widely grown. In addition, as of last year, a small number of Ontario and Alberta farmers now grow GM sugar beet for sugar processing (that’s white sugar beet; not the red table beets you may cook in your kitchen).
Despite the fact that there are few GM crops being grown today, many of us have probably consumed foods with some GM ingredients. That’s because over half of Canada’s corn and soy is genetically modified, as is almost all of our canola. We eat all three as processed food ingredients such as corn starch, soy lethicin (found in chocolate bars, for example), and canola oil.
These three major crops are also important for feeding livestock, and a lot of corn feeds dairy cows. As it happens, corn, canola, and soy are also the so-called first generation of biofuel crops that may increasingly fuel our cars.
Going one step further, two of the most powerful agrochemical companies, Monsanto and Dow AgroSciences, have now developed a new GM corn they call SmartStax. Unlike the GM varieties currently sold on market shelves, it has eight GM traits “stacked” together in the one seed. Once it’s planted, much of it will inevitably end up in packaged foods as well as in animal feed and as feedstock for ethanol.
Monsanto is everywhere
The common feature of all four GM crops grown in Canada is the multinational biotech and seed company Monsanto. While there are other companies selling GM seeds, Monsanto—the largest seed company in the world—owns approximately 86 percent of all the GM seeds sown across the world.
But it’s not just the GM market that Monsanto dominates. According to ETC Group, an Ottawa-based international organization dedicated to the conservation and sustainable advancement of cultural and ecological diversity and human rights, Monsanto owns 23 percent of the global proprietary (patented) seed market and is constantly expanding, buying up all kinds of seed companies, not just those that produce GM seeds.
Originally a chemical company, Monsanto also still sells the world’s biggest selling herbicide, Roundup. In fact, Monsanto is the fifth-largest pesticide company in the world today. Dow AgroSciences, Monsanto’s partner in producing SmartStax corn, is the fourth-largest, according to the ETC Group.
Crossing the species barrier
What does genetic modification really mean? Also called genetic engineering, the process allows scientists to isolate genes—the basic units in the cells of every organism that can determine its characteristics or traits—and transfer them from one species into another, unrelated species.
While it’s true that we have been moving genes around since we began farming, we always did this through traditional breeding methods that rely on, and are constrained by, the reproductive systems of plants and animals themselves.
Never before have we been able to directly move genes from one species to another or from one kingdom (for example, fish) to another (for example, plants). Scientists refer to the obstacles that keep species in nature from successfully reproducing with one another as the species barrier. We have now crossed it.
By inserting new genes into a plant or shuffling existing genes around, scientists can make plants express new traits. For example, particular genes from the soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), which is toxic to a class of insects, are spliced into corn to create “Bt corn.” With the new Bt gene, the corn expresses the Bt toxin, which is its new trait for insect resistance—the pests who nibble the corn will die.
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Lucy Sharratt has been researching, writing, and campaigning on genetic modification since 1994. She currently works for the Canadian Biotechnology Action Network, a coalition of 18 groups concerned about GM.
Source: alive #328, February 2010
The Fight For the Future of Food
If the government won't take responsibility for separating industry profit from safety, it's up to consumers!
Our federal government has abdicated its responsibility for protecting public health in favor of promot.
Genetics and the Basis of Biotechnology
Many advocates of organic growing speak of genetic manipulation and bioengineering as unalloyed evil. In order to object we need to do so intelligently and reasonably, not with emotional objections. People may object to things emotionally when they don't understand what something is or how it got there.
Field of Genes
It's been only three years since the first large-scale commercial harvest of genetically engineered (GE) food crops in the United States. Now GE crops cover one fourth of US agricultural land-more than 90 million acres.
The Canadian agricultural industry is predictably lagging behind, but puffing hard to catch up..
Food Crisis
Farming is in a crisis, particularly here on the Western Canadian prairie. Everyone is calling it an economic or financial crisis in agriculture.
High Cost of GE Labels
Canada is moving towards a voluntary labelling system for genetically engineered (GE) foods, but such labelling is causing increasing concern among growers and processor.
Genetic Engineering Faults
Sowing Ignorance About Our Food
It is very easy to get caught up in the heady joy of something new and exciting, without considering the consequences. This is exactly what is happening with genetic engineering.
Genetics is a young science.
From Scientist to Consumer
Parents want to know what they're feeding their childre.
Genetically Engineered Foods a Threat to Life
Lack of Testing Genetically-engineered foods are being rushed to market without long-term testin.
Take Back Control
Open Letter To:
Right Honourable Jean Chrétien, Prime Minister
Right Honourable Joe Clark, Conservative Leader
Federal Opposition Leader,
Mr Stockwell Day, Canadian Alliance
Bloc Québécois Leader, Mr.
Biodiversity Threatened
Biodiversity Threatened With genetic engineering we are growing fewer and fewer species of crop.
You Are What You Eat
By now we're aware of the increasing amounts of genetically engineered (GE) foods on grocery store shelves. But we're still ignorant about what this means for our future food supply and healt.
How are Plants Genetically Engineered?
Several methods of plant engineering have been tried, but only two patented methods are used today.
One is the "gene gun" method, which fires gold- or tungsten-coated micro-particles into target cells or tissues. Genes are integrated into the chromosomes of the target cells.
Organic Agriculture Grows Up!
Organic agriculture is booming.
The news drew cheers from participants at the 20th annual Guelph Organic Conference in Januar.
We're at War!
I am a 77-year-old retired farmer. After 32 years of organic farming I have leased my farm to the Back to the Farm Research Foundation, established as a certified organic research and demonstration farm. I am manager..
Why Label GE Foods?
The Codex Alimentarius Commission (a joint body of the UN World Health Organization and the Food and Agriculture Organization concerned with food sanitary laws) met in July and agreed in principle about the need for global guidelines for the pre-market testing of genetically engineered (GE) foods.
Schmeiser on a World Circuit
Recent events in the farm community have greatly reduced my level of cynicism about our individual rights in the global village and the international institutions we have established to protect our rights.
Governments Say No to GMOs
On July 11, 2001, the Star Phoenix of Saskatoon reported that the Saskatchewan government was cutting its research contributions to the biotechnology program at Saskatoon Crop Development Centre (CDC).
The Power of Global Markets
With more than 40 genetically modified (GM) crops already approved for commercialization in Canada, it seems that the biotechnology industry is poised to reap the benefits of the last 20 years of research and development..
Organic Group Takes Up Arms
On Oct. 12, 2001, Arnold Taylor, president of the Saskatchewan Organic Directorate (SOD), announced the directorate's intention to take legal action against those responsible for introducing genetically engineered (GE) canola into Saskatchewan and to hold them accountable for crop losses and damages.
What are Functional Foods and Nutraceuticals?
On Oct. 30, 2001, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) held a public forum on plant molecular farming, defined by the CFIA as "the use of plants in agriculture to produce biomolecules instead of food, feed and fibre.
Biological Terrorism a New Threat
Saskatchewan grain and oilseed farmer Percy Schmeiser has added a new term to his vocabulary: biological terroris. It means the deliberate injection or placing of a gene unknowingly in a farmer's seed, grain or oilseed that would damage large acres of growing crops or cause illness or death to large numbers of people.
GMO Contamination Around the World
A recent study published in Nature by University of California Berkeley researchers reveals that some of Mexico's native corn varieties contain genetically modified, or transgenic, DNA. The study compared samples of the "criollo" corn variety taken from remote areas of Mexico's Sierra Norte de Oaxaca.
Who's Accountable for Genetically Modified Crops?
Food biotechnology covers a complex range of issues, all profoundly interconnected. In this month's column, this interdependence is highlighted by looking at the risks that farmers face when growing genetically engineered crops, how decisions to adopt the technology affect the environment and how consumer rights are threatened.
The Hidden Cost of Genetic Engineering
Genetically engineered food--the food we're eating. A savior or a sacrifice? That's the question on many lips. We have been given many arguments as to the supposed benefits of this new application for technolog.
Will the Hungry Profit From Biotechnology?
The "biotech will feed the hungry" argument is often used to rationalize genetically engineered (GE) crops and to justify the export of these crops and genetic technologies to developing countries. But will genetically engineered crops feed the world's hungry? Doubtful.
Genetic Engineering Food Fight
Did you know that 65 to 95 per cent of processed food products contain genetically engineered (GE) ingredients? Yet because sectors of the food industry have resisted identifying these foods, and because our regulatory bodies have chosen to adopt a voluntary labelling system, many consumers do not know what's in the foods they're.
Biotechnology: Damage to Democracy and the Environment
Have you ever wondered who in Canada assesses the introduction of newtechnologies that will change your health, your environment--your life? Why was genetic engineering (GE) implemented despite popular protest? Why have health concerns about the long-term effects of eating GE foods been dismissed? And why does the .
The Next Generation of Genetically Engineered Foods
At the same time governments worldwide are talking about establishing guidelines for biotech-free foods, industry giants have done it again: the next generation of genetically engineered (GE) crops, known as biopharmaceutical crops, is about to be commercialized.
Changes at Monsanto
It would appear that Monsanto is turning over a new "genetically modified" leaf. A company spokesperson pledged in the Aug. 17, 2002 issue of The Economist to be more transparent by involving the public in dialogue, presumably in response to European resistance against genetically modified organisms. A nice promise. But how realistic is it?
Genetically Engineered Food Aid
Canadian farmers have lost market opportunities as a result of growing genetically engineered (GE) corn. In Canada, GE corn makes up roughly 27 percent of corn production in Ontario and Quebec. Similarly in the United States, more than 20 percent of corn acreage is genetically engineered.
Food Biotechnology
It's a sad and serious fact. Canadian consumers know little to nothing about where their food comes from. The average supermarket shopper is influenced by packaging and pric.
Bias In Biotechnology: Who's Paying The Piper?
I have recently begun to speak out in public about the contentious issue of genetically modified organisms, As a result, I have been accused by public relations spokespeople and executives of biotechnology companies of being either uninformed because I am not actively engaged in research or biased in my opinions..
alive's Rallying Call to Consumers
Now is the time for Canadian consumers to stop a massive threat to our food security and farming industry. If US-based Monsanto Corp., a biotech and chemical company, has its way, genetically ingineered (GE) wheat will soon be approved in Canada.
Soil Science
New discoveries in soil ecology have found that genetically modified organisms (GMOs) remain in the soil long after GM plants are harveste.
Genetic engineering
"When all is said and done, it still gives us just a voluntary standard with manufacturers having the power to decide if they label or not." Canada will soon have a new set of labelling standards for food.
A Seedy Business
The business of farming has undergone an arguably ominous shift and the commodity most at risk is our seeds. Twenty years ago, farmers controlled almost 100 per cent of their seed supply by saving it year after year. Now 80 per cent of Canada's seed supply is under corporate control.
Human Guinea Pigs
The very concept of medical and scientific experimentation on human beings is troubling, even frightenin.
Monsanto
Monsanto is a company with a very illustrious-and unsavoury-past. At the moment it is trying to escape liability (up to $2.3 billion US) for major chemical contamination in Alabama that it hoped to get rid of when it hived off its chemical operations as the independent company Solutia.
Tampered-Food Fight Just Beginning
Sowing Ignorance About Our Food
Old MacDonald Had a Seed
Throughout the Prairies and farming communities across the nation, an issue is being hotly debated by both multi-hectare farmers and small-market gardeners: Is the Canadian government handing over control of our food system to transnational biotech corporations?
What's Eating Our Kids?
Common sense tells us that what's eating our kids is what they're eating. If they eat junk food, they will have junk bodies and junk feelings. An overburdened liver must struggle to detoxify the synthetic ingredients in processed food; a malnourished brain is more susceptible to the neurotoxic effect of "excitotoxins (MSG and aspartame) that lead to emotional and neurological imbalance.
Patenting Porky
Monsanto is trying to patent the pig. In early 2005 the biotech giant filed an application with the World Intellectual Property Organization to patent pigs displaying specific genetic traits. They claim to have not just improved, but actually invented pig genes-entire pigs, pig litters, pig populations.
Dumping Engineered Seeds
Genetically engineering food crops has resulted in unprecedented protest around the world, from both consumers of the foods and members of the scientific community. Many scientists are concerned that the introduction of foreign organisms into the DNA of a plant family can have disastrous results.
Saskatchewan Farmer Fights to Keep Seeds Free
Schmeiser Receives Ghandi Award Sixty-nine year old Percy Schmeiser has farmed at Bruno, Saskatchewan most of his life along with Louise, his wife of 48 years.
Whistle Blowers Win Case
Two Health Canada scientists, reprimanded by their department for making public their concerns about Monsanto's pressurization tactics, have won a court case against the governmen.
Mutant Tacos Removed
The politics of genetically engineered (GE) foods is becoming a hot topic in the US.
Kraft Food's taco shells, mistakenly made of genetically engineered corn, were recently recalled from store shelves and Taco Bell restaurants. It was the first mass recall of frankenfood in the US.
Flaws in Testing
Serious flaws in the product testing system for genetically engineered (GE) foods have been discovered in the U.
Scientists
Scientists working for Swiss food giant Novartis have developed and patented a method for "switching off" the immune systems of plant.
Failure of Genetically Engineered Goods
Monsanto Bullies Farmers Agribusiness giant Monsanto has warned Argentina it may shut down some operations in the country if the government does not loosen restrictions on genetically engineered (GE) crops..
Saskatchewan Farmer Fights for Future of Food
On March 29, 2001, the transnational drug and chemical company Monsanto won its case against 70-year-old Saskatchewan farmer Percy Schmeiser.
Herbicide-resistant Canola Spreads
Yet another troublesome consequence has sprouted out of genetically engineered crops: glyphosate-resistant (Roundup Ready) canola growing in unexpected--and unwanted--place.
Say So-long to Sci-fi Seed
A genetically engineered flax seed has been removed from the market due to European fears that it will contaminate other flax varieties in Canada. University of Saskatchewan researchers called their seed Triffid after the tall, three-legged walking plants in a 1950s science fiction movie.
Groups Oppose Modified Wheat
Genetically modified (GM) wheat has raised concern both domestically and abroad. Farmers and grain industry participants are concerned about market loss and risks to Canada's distinguished reputation for quality wheat varieties as well as agronomic impacts. Consumers are concerned about food safety and regulatory adequacy..
Wish On, StarLink Corn
Genetically modified StarLink corn isn't allowed to cross the Canadian border as of September 2001. Linda Webster, a spokesperson for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), said that all imported corn must have accompanying documents to certify that the shipment is StarLink free.
Thumbs Up: Going Green on the Golf Course
Monitoring of Mercury Amalgams
Are You Really Environmentally Friendly?
Cleaning Out the Medicine Cabinet: Safe Drug Disposal
Go Green at Your Computer Screen!
Europe Rejects Food Irradiation Bid
Tide Turning for Genetically Engineered Ingredients
Organic Diet Cuts Pesticides in Kids
GMO Bullies
Do citizens in a democratic society have a right to determine what kinds of food are grown and sold in their country? Have international trade agreements deprived us of this right? Are locally made decisions, such as creating a zone free of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), even possible?
