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Date: Fri, 27 Aug 1999 16:41:01 -0500
From: Richard Wolfson GEN8-26
By Paul Brown, Environment Correspondent
GUARDIAN (London),
Thursday August 26, 1999
The government has suspended large scale planting of genetically modified oilseed rape due to start today because it fears the High Court may order them dug up again.
The decision was made by the treasury solicitor yesterday after studying papers which claim that civil servants used administrative short cuts to rush through licences for large new releases of oilseed rape.
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Date: Fri, 27 Aug 1999 16:41:01 -0500
From: Richard Wolfson GEN8-26
by Joe Cummins, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus of Genetics
University of
Western Ontario,
e-mail:
jcummins@julian.uwo.ca
"The Herbicide, Glufosinate, is used with millions of acres of crops on crops including corn, canola and soy it causes birth defects on exposure of father alone as well as mother!"
I have written a number of previous notes on the danger of the herbicide ,glufosinate, used with GM and normal crops and false claims by officials of EU , US and Canada that the herbicide has no harmful side effects. The previous evidence showed that pregnant females fed food containing the herbicide gave birth to children with birth defects both traditional and defects in behavior and learning. Learning defects were also experienced by young children exposed to the herbicide.
Recent studies of humans exposed to pesticides showed that fathers exposed to glufosinate gave birth to children with birth defects while most other pesticides did not produce that impact (Garcia,A.,Benavides,F.,Fletcher,T. and Orts,E. "Paternal exposure to pesticides and congenital malformations" Scand J Work Environ Health 24, 473-80,1998).
The glufosinate birth defects suggest that the large chemical companies have undo influence over government bureaucrats . Such bureaucrats turn their backs on clear evidence of danger from pesticides and promote dangerous genetic engineering. We must alert the public and insure that the dangers are made public.
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Date: Fri, 27 Aug 1999 16:41:01 -0500
From: Richard Wolfson GEN8-26
August 26, 1999
TOKYO, Reuters [WN] via NewsEdge Corporation : Japan's third-largest beer maker Sapporo Breweries Ltd said on Wednesday it will stop using genetically modified (GM) corn to make beer, after industry leader Kirin Brewery Co took the same action the previous day.
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Date: Fri, 27 Aug 1999 16:41:01 -0500
From: Richard Wolfson GEN8-26
August 26, 1999
LORIENT, France, Reuters [BR] via NewsEdge Corporation : French Farm Minister Jean Glavany attacked U.S. corporations on Wednesday, accusing them of trying to monopolise the world's food supply and jeopardising French agricultural independence.
"Agriculture is at a historic turning point, the change from of quantity to those of quality," Glavany told a gathering of Green Party members in this western French port city.
"We have many adversaries as we embark on this revolution," the Socialist minister said.
"First among them there are obviously the market liberals from across the Atlantic and their multinationals like Monsanto or DuPont, who have set themselves the challenge of feeding the world on their own."
He was referring to U.S. corporations DuPont Co and Monsanto Co, two of the world's largest seed manufacturers and leaders in the production of genetically modified grains.
They are trying "to flood the world with their products, genetically modified or not, and to spread their own agricultural and food model," he added.
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Date: Fri, 27 Aug 1999 16:41:01 -0500
From: Richard Wolfson GEN8-26
BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) – Forget about mystery meat. Berkeley's school cafeterias are going organic.
The city's school board is expected to approve a plan today that would give students the option of munching on pesticide-free baby carrots and sandwiches made with organic bread.
The food would be grown in school gardens and purchased from local organic farmers. Milk would be certified clean of bovine growth hormones. That's pretty rare – and pretty expensive – but Berkeley is an unusual said Rick DeBurgh, who added that he has never heard of schools serving organic cafeteria fare in his 22 years with the California School Food Services Association.
Santa Monica has experimented with a farmer's market salad bar, but Berkeley wants to serve organic foods in the main dishes and after-school snacks. The plan also calls for removing irradiated and genetically altered foods.
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Date: Fri, 27 Aug 1999 16:41:01 -0500
From: Richard Wolfson GEN8-26
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pennsylvania via NewsEdge Corporation August 27, 1999
Aug. 25 – In England, where Beanz meanz Heinz, the Pittsburgh-based food giant has moved swiftly to reassure consumers it doesn't use genetically modified foods in beans, soups and other products sold there.
Responding to public outcry against such ingredients, H.J. Heinz early this year announced it had eliminated genetically modified crops in products it sells throughout Europe.
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Date: Fri, 27 Aug 1999 16:41:01 -0500
From: Richard Wolfson GEN8-26
August 26, 1999
TOKYO, Reuters [WN] via NewsEdge Corporation : Honda Trading Corp, a wholly owned unit of Japanese automaker Honda Motor Co Ltd, said on Wednesday it will build a plant in the U.S. state of Ohio for sorting and bagging soybeans free of genetically modified organisms.
The company plans to spend 600 million yen for a plant that will start operation around October with an annual handling capacity of 20,000 tonnes of soybeans, a spokesman said.
Soybeans to be sorted and bagged at the plant will come from U.S. farmers with contracts with Honda Trading for production of non-GM soybeans. for sale to makers of "tofu" soybean curd.
This year, Honda Trading has contracts with 118 U.S. farmers, who are expected to supply 15,000 tonnes of non-GM soybeans to the company, the spokesman said.
** NOTICE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed for research and educational purposes only. **
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Date: Sun, 29 Aug 1999 10:18:25 -0500
From: Richard Wolfson GEN8-27
Thanks to Patricia Dines 73652.1202@compuserve.com for posting the following websites with common questions on GE.
Patricia Dines says: Please feel free to forward to others who you think this will interest.
Here's the address of the page on the UCS site that shows the genetically engineered (GE) crops OKd for commercial use in the U.S. as of 12/98. (Note - It is likely that there have been additional crops OK'd this year, as well as crops being grown under experimental status.) This list is useful for farmers, gardeners, etc. who want to know what SEEDS might be GE.
http://www.ucsusa.org/Gene/w98.market.html
For consumers, who often have questions like "what foods in the SUPERMARKET might be GE?", is this great page on the Mothers for Natural Law site -
http://www.safe-food.org/-consumer/foods.html
As these are common questions, I thought it might be useful to forward the exact website addresses for this info, so we can save people the time of trying to find it on their own, getting them right to the pertinent info!
You might also be interested to know that I have pulled together a longer and updated list of great GE resources on my website, at http://www.monitor.net/~cap/ge.html. Please feel free to check it out, send me any comments you might have, pass the address along to others, and/or put it on your website.
Note: A number of the organizations receiving this email will note that
they are included on my GE webpage. Also note that we have a more general
resources page at I hope this information is useful -
Best regards -
Patricia Dines Date: Sun, 29 Aug 1999 10:18:25 -0500 Biotech News, by Richard Wolfson, PhD
Reprinted with permission from the September 1999 issue of Alive: Canadian
Journal of Health and Nutrition, 7436 Fraser Park Drive, Burnaby, BC V5J
5B9
September 1999 issue of Alive: Canadian
Journal of Health and Nutrition
Tobacco plants with human genes are being grown at Agriculture and
Agri-Food Canada's research station at Delphi, near London, Ontario. The
plants contain the human gene to produce biochemicals for medical purposes.
The genetically engineered tobacco will soon be grown in fields near the
research station. No one knows the long-term effects on the environment or
what might happen if the biotech tobacco cross-pollinates and the human
gene spreads to other tobacco plants. Another serious concern is the
unknown effect on humans who breathe the pollen containing human genes. If
you are concerned, contact Dr. Jim Brandle at Agriculture Canada. Phone
(519) 663-3326; fax (519) 663-3454; email:
brandleje@em.agr.ca.
Date: Sun, 29 Aug 1999 10:18:25 -0500 Last June eminent scientists, doctors, public policy experts, industry
leaders, and consumer groups submitted petitions to the US President,
Congress, USDA, FDA, and EPA. The petitions contained over 500,000
signatures calling for mandatory labelling of genetically engineered foods.
At the press conference, Dr. Gary Kaplan, Director of the North Shore
University Hospital in New York, explained that inserting genes from other
species into plants for human or animal consumption is dangerously
unpredictable. Dr. Richard Strohman, Professor Emeritus of Molecular and
Cell Biology at the University of California at Berkeley, stated that
scientists are in the dark in considering how to even begin to assess the
long-term effects of genetically modified food. Industry representatives
said that the US industry was losing its European market because European
consumers were not buying GE foods.
Date: Sun, 29 Aug 1999 10:18:25 -0500 A report by the UK Ministry of Agriculture states that genetically
engineered corn, which contains antibiotic resistance genes, could render
useless eight powerful antibiotics used by doctors to fight fatal diseases,
including typhoid, pneumonia and infections suffered by Aids patients. The
report warns that the antibiotic resistance genes were so powerful that
they could degrade an antibiotic in the human gut in 30 minutes.
Date: Sun, 29 Aug 1999 10:18:25 -0500 Captain Fred Barker, the UK farmer who agreed to having the country's first
large-scale trial of genetically modified crops on his land, has destroyed
these crops with weed-killer. Captain Barker says the trustees of his
family farm in Wiltshire forced him to end the trial because they are
opposed to the biotech crops. Also, they were unhappy that other crops on
the farm would lose their organic status because of the trial.
Date: Sun, 29 Aug 1999 10:18:25 -0500 IN UK, the National Federation of Women's Institutes, representing more
than 250,000 women, voted overwhelmingly in favour of a five-year
moratorium on genetically engineered foods. They also demanded that the
Government ban imports of genetically engineered foods for the same period,
until consumer safety and environmental concerns have been fully
investigated. In UK, mandatory labelling of genetically engineered foods
has been in effect for months, while major food chains have removed GE
foods from their brands.
Date: Sun, 29 Aug 1999 10:18:25 -0500 American researchers in the private sector are working to create the
world's first batches of cloned human embryos. One team is trying to clone
embryos that are part human and part cow. The researchers claim they are
not aiming to create full-grown embryos, but rather to grow embryonic cells
for medical research. However, some scientists are concerned that the
research could pave the way to the first cloned babies.
Date: Sun, 29 Aug 1999 10:18:25 -0500 The first molecular studies conducted on Dolly, the three-year-old sheep
cloned from a six-year-old ewe, found that Dolly's cells are, in essence,
at least nine years old. This finding suggests that clones somehow inherit
not only the genes, but in some sense the age of the animals from which
they are made. Scientists have yet to make heads or tails of this result,
which puts the theory and value of cloning into question.
For further information on biotechnology and its hazards, see the website:
http://www.concentric.net/~Rwolfson/home.html
Date: Sun, 29 Aug 1999 10:18:25 -0500 Carl Pope – Sierra Club's executive director – sent this exellent letter to
President Clinton about genetically engineered crops/foods, public health
and environmental impacts.
This letter can be widely distributed.
Laurel Hopwood, Sierra Club Biotechnology Task Force Chair
Dear President Clinton,
8/18/99
The Sierra Club, the largest grassroots conservation group in the
United States, is joining the many environmental, consumer, religious, and
community groups concerned with the safety of genetically engineered
organisms (GEOs), particularly in regards to their use in agriculture. Our
purpose is to protect the ecosystem and we believe that the rate of
application of this technology far exceeds our ability to understand the
environmental and public health risks and to avoid potentially serious
impacts.
The biotechnology industry makes the misleading claim that genetic
engineering is a simple extension of the traditional crossbreeding that
nature and farmers have been using for thousands of years. However, there
is a drastic difference. While conventional breeders face natural barriers
that prevent unrestricted gene transfer between unrelated species, genetic
engineers bypass this protective barrier by combining genes from totally
unrelated species. Furthermore, the technology involved in transferring
foreign genes is imprecise, unstable, and unpredictable, so that engineers
have no way of predicting how GEOs will behave once released into the
environment.
The Sierra Club calls for:
We contend that the risks posed by the current trajectory of
genetic engineering in the field of agriculture are profound. We note that:
The Sierra Club calls for the expansion of research into the risks
that recombinant DNA technology and its products pose to the natural
environment. In the meantime, in the absence of scientific knowledge, the
Sierra Club asks that we take a precautionary approach. Until rigorous
research is conducted to discern and address the long term impacts of GEOs,
particularly in regards to their use in agriculture, such organisms should
not be released into the environment.
Respectfully submitted,
Carl Pope
CC: Jane Henney, FDA; Carol Browner, EPA; Dan Glickman, USDA; Jamie
Rappaport Clark, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; Al Gore, VP of the U.S.;
representatives to Congress and Senate
** NOTICE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is
distributed for research and educational purposes only. **
Date: Sun, 29 Aug 1999 22:16:22 -0500 By MELODY PETERSEN,
NYTimes August 29
American farmers paid premium prices this spring to sow many of their
fields with genetically engineered corn and soybeans, but now as the fall
harvest nears, more of the international buyers they depend upon are saying
they do not want those crops.
Consumers and food companies in a growing number of countries are shunning
the new crops created by genetic engineers at such companies as Monsanto,
DuPont and Novartis. Foreign consumers say they do not wish to eat the new
foods like corn that have been altered to produce their own pesticide, and
some companies are reacting quickly to consumers' desires even though no
clear evidence exists that the crops are unsafe.
This week in Japan, for example, the Kirin Brewery Company announced that
starting in 2001 it would use only corn that has not been genetically
engineered. While bowing to customers' concerns, Kirin made clear that it
did not think the products were unhealthy. A day later, Kirin's competitor,
Sapporo Breweries, announced that it, too, would revert to traditional
corn, which is an ingredient in some types of beer.
The biotechnology industry plays down the recent decisions of some food
companies, saying they are overreacting to threats that aren't real. Most
consumers, the industry says, do not mind these new products.
Until a few months ago, opposition to genetically altered foods was largely
confined to Europe, and trade officials in the United States have been
battling the European Union, which has stopped buying all American corn.
But this summer, the Clinton Administration's efforts have grown
increasingly urgent, in an attempt to contain the aversion to these crops
that is leaping from continent to continent.
Japan, which now wants mandatory labeling of gene-altered products, is the
largest importer of American crops, and Mexico, whose top producer of corn
flour for tortillas is avoiding altered grain, is the second largest
importer of American corn.
"This is a very significant trade threat," said Peter Scher, who directs
the agricultural negotiations for the United States Trade Representative's
Office. "The only thing I can tell farmers is that we are doing everything
we can to sell their products overseas."
About a third of American crops, including soybeans and corn, are exported.
This year, American farmers planted an estimated 60 million acres (the size
of the United Kingdom) with genetically engineered corn and soybean seeds,
accounting for nearly half of all soybeans in the United States and about a
third of all corn.
Most farmers still expect that they will find a market for much of this
year's corn and soybean crops, industry officials say. But they have
already been told that seven varieties of gene-altered corn, representing
about 5 percent of the expected harvest, will be rejected by corn
exporters. Most of that will be ground into animal feed.
Next year's harvest looms as more troublesome, with public sentiment
changing, foreign markets shrinking and the agriculture industry struggling
to adjust.
For the first time this summer, many corn growers are dealing with costly
new issues.
Local grain elevator operators, who buy and store wagonloads of corn to
sell to the exporters, have begun asking farmers to separate some types of
gene-altered corn from ordinary corn to appease international buyers.
Dennis Mitchell, a farmer in Houghton, S.D., has been an enthusiastic
producer of gene-altered corn and planted 600 acres this spring, 80 percent
of which is a crop altered to produce a toxin that kills the European corn
borer.
He boasts that the new seeds have increased his yield by at least 15
percent, and he has received assurances from local elevator operators that
he will be able to sell his grain this year.
But he is paying close attention to the tremors in the marketplace,
especially now that American companies like Gerber and Heinz baby foods
have announced that they will not use genetically altered corn or soy
ingredients. And he is uncertain what he will do next year when spring
planting season arrives.
"I wish we could get this cleared up," he said. "I certainly can't raise
anything I can't market."
Such uncertainty only adds to the problems of American farmers, who point
out that this year's crop prices are the lowest in more than a decade.
"This is such a hard time for us, and then you compound that with this
uncertainty," said Gary Goldberg, the chief executive of the American Corn
Growers Association, a group that has been opposed to some practices of the
biotechnology industry. It represents 14,000 independent farmers.
"Farmers are going to get caught in the middle," he said.
Clinton Administration officials have repeatedly assured consumers that all
of the genetically engineered crops that have been approved in the United
States are safe for people to eat. And, indeed, there is no compelling
scientific evidence that shows the foods are unsafe. But the crops are so
new that there is not enough evidence to prove the foods' safety to a
minority of scientists who say further studies need to be done.
Dan Glickman, the Secretary of Agriculture, said that the consumers'
concerns seemed to be spreading like "an infectious disease."
"This technology," he said, "got a little bit ahead of the politics."
He and Federal trade officials have spent the summer pressing European
leaders and agricultural ministers to reconsider what is essentially the
European Union's moratorium on new types of gene-altered crops. They have
threatened some countries with intercession by the World Trade
Organization, arguing that restrictions on these foods run counter to the
current science supporting their safety.
Genetic engineering is a process in which scientists splice one organism's
genes into another. For example, scientists created the pesticide-producing
corn by inserting a gene from a bacterium.
Most of the corn and soybeans have been altered to either produce their own
pesticides or to be resistant to herbicides. The first gene-altered seeds
were offered to farmers in 1996, and growers snatched them up, quickly
making the new biotechnology into a multibillion-dollar business for the
seed companies.
The biotechnology companies say that the food companies are caving in to
pressure from environmental advocates who have written letters saying that
consumers do not want these products.
"Consumers are turning away from these foods in enormously smaller numbers
than the activists would have you believe," said L. Val Giddings, a vice
president for food and agriculture at the Biotechnology Industry
Organization, a trade group of more than 800 companies in Washington.
Still, farmers and trade officials point to new problems. In Mexico, which
bought $500 million of American corn last year, Grupo Maseca, the company
that is the leading producer of corn flour, said recently that it would
avoid importing genetically modified grain. The corn flour is made into
tortillas, the Mexican staple.
In South Korea, another large importer of American grain, corn-processing
companies said they were considering buying corn from China instead of the
United States because of concerns about the gene-altered crop.
And, in Japan, the Government passed a law requiring food companies to
label products that have been genetically engineered. (In the United
States, Federal officials have only recently said they will consider
voluntary labeling.) Preparing for awareness generated by the labeling in
Japan, a subsidiary of the Honda Motor Company said this week that it would
build a plant in the United States and hire farmers to supply it only with
unaltered, conventional soybeans. The soybeans, which would be exported
back to Japan, would be made into tofu.
In the United States, where there has been little uproar over the foods,
the baby food makers Gerber and H. J. Heinz were the first large food
companies to reject the new products. Then Iams, the pet food company, said
it would not buy the seven varieties of gene-altered corn that have not
been approved by European regulators. Iams's announcement shut down an
alternative route that farmers had for that corn that exporters will not
accept.
The agricultural industry has begun responding, with exporters trying to
devise new methods to bridge the growing gap between farmers and consumers.
A two-price system – higher prices for conventional crops and lower prices
for genetically-altered crops – is clearly developing. For example, this
year, the Archer Daniels Midland Company has been paying some farmers an
extra 18 cents for each bushel of non-altered soybeans.
The American Corn Growers Association, which represents mostly family
farms, told its members last week that they should consider planting only
conventional seeds next spring, unless a host of questions can be answered,
including whether the United States will be able to export the genetically
altered crops.
The National Corn Growers Association, which is about twice as big as the
American Corn Growers Association, and has a financial partnership with
Monsanto and some of the other agricultural companies, has not followed
suit.
Susan Keith, the group's senior director for public policy, said that the
association, which is based in St. Louis, was keeping farmers informed of
what types of genetically altered corn could be the hardest to sell, but
had not suggested that they consider planting only conventional seeds.
The worries about international trade have deepened farmers' fears of a
bleaker economic future.
Prices for most crops are the lowest in 10 years, and farmers say they are
concerned that grain prices are falling even further now that foreign
consumers are turning away from genetically altered crops. But experts say
prices have mostly been affected by the larger harvests in other countries,
which have reduced the demand for grain from the United States. In
addition, the financial crisis in Asia caused exports to fall last year and
prices to drop. And overproduction of some crops continues to hurt prices.
For now, uncertainty about the next planting season is bedeviling the
nation's farmers. They cannot predict where the next food backlash will
surface and sometimes, even if they do, it is too late.
"It wasn't until May that farmers got word that Europe had not approved
certain kinds of corn," Goldberg said. "By then, the corn was in the
ground."
Date: Wed, 1 Sep 1999 22:22:02 -0500 BANGKOK, Aug 27 (AFP) - Southeast Asian nations were urged Friday to join
forces to prevent global trade agreements being used to force countries to
open their markets to genetically modified crops.
Non-governmental organisations fear forums such as the World Trade
Organisation, which holds a new round of negotiations in Seattle in
December, could be used to further open markets for multinational food
giants which produce genetically modified crops.
"The US and Canada, who are the main proponents of genetically modified
crops, will be raising the issue at the WTO meeting in Seattle," said
Aileen Kwa, a researcher with the Bangkok-based think tank Focus on the
Global South.
Witoon Lianchamroon from the Thai NGO Biothai said the premature
introduction of genetically modified crops could create an environmental
disaster.
"We haven't properly tested what effects these genetically modified crops
could have on Thailand's environment and public health," he said.
Date: Wed, 1 Sep 1999 22:22:02 -0500 Nikkei TOKYO-A government organization will begin to inspect genetically
modified foods, which until now has been done by private companies, the
Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported in its Friday evening edition. The Oilstuff
Inspectors' Corporation, a food certification body affiliated with the
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and the Ministry of
Transport, will begin inspection and certification of soybeans, corn and
other grains in autumn on behalf of Marubeni Corp. (J.MRB or 8002), Itochu
Corp. (J.CIT or 8001) and other big trading houses.
The government plans to mandate GM labeling in April 2001, but food
distributors are likely to accelerate voluntary labeling before then. Oilstuff Inspectors' currently inspects the quality of grain imports at 12
of the nation's ports on behalf of the farm ministry. As soon as early
November, it will begin inspecting some 100 shipments per month of 1999
harvest soybeans imported from the U.S. and other countries on behalf of
trading houses. Marubeni, Itochu, Mitsui & Co. (MITSY or 8031), Sumitomo
Corp. (J.SUT or 8053) and other companies have decided to entrust the
inspections to the organization, industry sources said.
The protein content will be measured using the ELISA (enzyme- linked
immunosorbent assay) method. The organization says it will be able to
measure the content of GM grains in units of 0.1%. Trading houses and
foodstuff makers will label their products based on the results of the
tests, which will cost them about Y20,000 per sample.
The farm ministry's inspection and certification method will take into
account increasingly vocal opposition from the U.S., which fears that clear
labeling could mean the end of the road for GM foods, the report said. (END) DOW JONES NEWS 08-27-99
Date: Wed, 1 Sep 1999 22:22:02 -0500 Thanks to US farmer Jim Winiger for forwarding this letter and to
nlpwessex@bigfoot.com for posting this on the internet:
As GMO crops become increasingly unsaleable on international markets, US
merchants are rapidly introducing schemes to encourage American farmers to
switch back out of GMOS in 2000.
The Consolidated Grain and Barge Company is one of the latest US companies
to take such steps and has indicated to its producers that consignments
containing GMO contamination 'no matter how trival' will not be eligible
for premium prices (CGB letter to producers 26 August 1999):
"CGB will be contracting 'non GMO' beans and corn this coming crop year.
We are currently finalizing our premium schedule and delivery periods.
Segregating 'non GMO' grains on farm will pay dividends this coming year.
Please make sure when switching from GMO varieties to 'non GMO' varieties
that you clean, combines, trucks and wagons, conveying equipment, and
especially bins. The testing standards and tolerance levels will be very
tight and any contamination, no matter how trivial it may seem, will lead
to positive test and will be rejected for 'non GMO' premiums.....
As suppliers we have to be responsible in meeting the needs of our customers."
For more information contact:
Charlie Laird Tel: (812) 838 - 4017
Fax: (812) 838 -2572
Date: Wed, 1 Sep 1999 22:22:02 -0500 By PETER ROSSET, New York Times,
September 1, 1999
OAKLAND, Calif. – In the debate over genetically altered foods, proponents
like Senator Richard Luger, the Indiana Republican, argue that such
products will be essential if we are to feed the world. But this claim
rests on two persistent misconceptions about hunger: first, that people are
hungry because of high population density, and second, that genetic
engineering is the best or only way to meet our future needs.
In fact, there is no relationship between the prevalence of hunger in a
given country and its population. For every densely populated and hungry
nation like Bangladesh, there is a sparsely populated and hungry nation
like Brazil.
The world today produces more food per inhabitant than ever before. Enough
is available to provide 4.3 pounds to every person every day: two and a
half pounds of grain, beans and nuts, about a pound of meat, milk and eggs,
and another of fruits and vegetables – more than anyone could ever eat.
The real problems are poverty and inequality. Too many people are too poor
to buy the food that is available or lack land on which to grow it
themselves.
The second misconception is that genetic engineering is the best way to
boost food production. There are two principal technologies on the market.
Monsanto makes "Roundup Ready" seeds, which are engineered to withstand its
herbicide, Roundup. These seeds – usually soybeans, canola or cotton --
allow farmers to apply the herbicide widely.
Monsanto and several other companies also produce "Bt" seeds – usually
corn, potatoes and cotton – which are engineered so that each plant
produces its own insecticide.
Some researchers have shown that none of the genetically engineered seeds
significantly increase the yield of crops. Indeed, in more than 8,200 field
trials, the Roundup Ready seeds produced fewer bushels of soybeans than
similar natural varieties, according to a study by Dr. Charles Benbrook,
the former director of the Board on Agriculture at the National Academy of
Sciences.
Far from being a solution to the world's hunger problem, the rapid
introduction of genetically engineered crops may actually threaten
agriculture and food security.
First, widespread adoption of herbicide-resistant seeds may lead to greater
use of chemicals that kill weeds. Yet, many noncrop plants are used by
small farmers in the third world as supplemental food sources and as animal
feed. In the United States, the Fish and Wildlife Service has found that
Roundup already threatens 74 endangered plant species.
Biological pollution from genetically engineered organisms may be another
problem. Monsanto is poised to acquire the rights to a genetic engineering
technique that renders a crop's seeds sterile, insuring that farmers are
dependent on Monsanto for new seed every year. Farming in the third world
could be crippled if these genes contaminate other local crops that the
poor depend on. And such genes could unintentionally sterilize other
plants, according to a study by Martha Crouch, an associate professor of
biology at Indiana University. Half the world's farmers rely on their own
saved seed for each year's harvest.
A true solution to the problem of hunger depends on attacking poverty and
inequality among both producers and consumers of food. A food system
increasingly dependent on genetically altered seeds takes us in the wrong
direction.
Peter Rosset is director of the Institute for Food and Development Policy
and co-author of "World Hunger: Twelve Myths."
Date: Wed, 1 Sep 1999 22:22:02 -0500 By Joe Cummins, PhD, Professor Emeritus of Genetics Earlier I described experiments done in London, Ontario in which tobacco
plants modified with human interleuken genes ( a regulator of the immune
system) were field tested without prior animal tests to determine the
toxicity and without open discussion prior to the tests. Such gene
products are active at very low dose and released from the test site in
pollen, by sucking insects and in surface and ground water from damaged or
decaying plant material.
Some of those undertaking the above experiment have been involved with
promoting the humanized pig to human transplants. Novartis sponsored the
Ontario project using humanized pigs from the Cambridge, England project
which has been delayed by the "international" moratorium based on the
observed release of endogenous retrovirus from pig cells to human cells
when the living tissues were placed in contact. London, Ontario has been
relatively free of public scrutiny and the Canadian news media tend to
identify themselves with government authority and large companies and to
avoid issues that distress authorities.
Today, it was announced that the Cambridge humanized pigs had been used
for several months in transplant experiments with baboons. The baboons
transplanted with humanized pig kidneys did not immediately reject the
kidneys showing the experiment was a success. However, the baboons
rejected the transplants within two months and died in great pain.
Presently transplanted animals are being treated with anti-rejection drugs
and it is expected that the animals will tolerate the humanized pig grafts.
The experiments were undertaken without public review and kept secret.
Baboons being closely related to human do not seem to be a safe way to
avoid the problem of virus release. Such virus could easily spread rapidly
because human has not previously encountered them. A worldwide epidemic
could follow within two or three years of the first release. Therefore the
issue is a global, not a local concern. Furthermore, local authorities
,conniving with a multinational company and the national government ,will
certainly undertake human transplants under conditions of extreme secrecy.
Clearly, the residents of London and Ontario are being used as white mice
in dangerous experiments. Along with that the world population is being put
a great risk without any chance to express permission or not.
Date: Wed, 1 Sep 1999 22:22:02 -0500 TOKYO, Sept 1 (Reuters) - Japan's largest maker of soybean protein food
products, Fuji Oil Co Ltd, said on Wednesday the group will stop using
genetically modified (GM) soybeans by next April due to consumer concern
over the safety of bioengineered crops.
Fuji Oil will start switching to non-GM soybeans in the October-March
period, a company spokesman said. Until now Fuji Oil has not distinguished
between GM and non-GM soybeans when placing orders.
The Fuji Oil group uses 80,000-100,000 tonnes of soybeans annually, most of
which is imported from the United States.
** NOTICE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is
distributed for research and educational purposes only. **
Date: Fri, 3 Sep 1999 06:40:32 -0500 Thanks to Dorothy Bowes
asehaqld@powerup.com.au for posting this:
Ref. PAYNE, D. ,
Australian Doctor. 1999 p.46, 16 July Swift phasing out of the use of antibiotic markers in genetically modified
foods is being called for by the UK's Opposition Liberal Democratic
party. This follows concerns that an antibiotic resistance marker gene
inserted into a type of genetically modified maize could degrade an
antibiotic in the human gut in 30 minutes. Publishing excerpts from leaked letters, London's Independent newspaper,
claims this information was conveyed to the British Government al long ago
as 1995, and that the Government's Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and
Processes had also warned that the antibiotic resistance genes could mutate
Date: Fri, 3 Sep 1999 06:40:32 -0500 Thanks to
jim@niall7.demon.co.uk (jim mcnulty) for posting this:
By Christopher Lyddon
LONDON, Sept 2 (Reuters) - European campaigners said they were one step
closer to victory on Thursday after reports U.S. grain giant Archer Daniels
Midland Co (NYSE:ADM - news) called on growers to segregate genetically
modified and conventional crops.
The move was welcomed by the British Retail Consortium, the trade
association which represents all shops, including the big supermarkets.
"It is a shame they couldn't do this two years ago when BRC first suggested
it to them," a spokesman said. "We are pleased to hear that ADM have made
the call for segregation. It will help British food retailers in their
efforts to source non-GM ingredients."
"It's great news," said a spokeswoman for environmental group Greenpeace,
long-time opponents of genetic modification.
"It's excellent that they're doing this finally after having said for years
that it was impossible to segregate," she said.
Date: Fri, 3 Sep 1999 06:40:32 -0500 The Scotsman August 31, 1999
RESEARCH giants working on genetically modified foods are now second only
to arms manufacturers as investment pariahs with ethical investors.
A survey of socially responsible investors by the Ethical Investment Trust
shows that concern about investing in businesses carrying out GM research
among firms has gone from being a minor issue two years ago to investors'
second biggest concern.
The report follows the revelation that [ Deutsche Bank ] , Europe's biggest
bank, has advised leading investors to sell their shares in companies
involved in the GM foods industry.
Guy Hooker, the director of the Ethical Investment Co-operative's Edinburgh
branch, said the explosion in awareness about genetically modified
organisms (GMOs) and the call to avoid them had been staggering.
"In 'top of the pops' terms, they've gone straight in at number two. In
short, the public don't want GMOs on their plate, or in their portfolios,"
he said.
"They don't want to invest in GMOs on ethical grounds quite apart from the
unquantifiable financial risk that exists."
He added: "Coming as this information does on the heels of the Deutsche
Bank's warning to its clients of the potential financial risks of investing
in genetically modified foods, it clearly shows that an ethical dimension
to investment choice actually reduces investment risk."
The trust surveyed investors on their top 25 ethical concerns. Mr Hooker
said GMO businesses had overtaken the traditional pariahs such as cigarette
and alcohol businesses, to secure number two spot. He believed that the
London-listed firm most likely to be boycotted is AstraZeneca, the
British-Swedish pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals group, which grows
genetically modified tomatoes, used in tomato paste. The company's
agrochemical division is also working on developing genetically altered
potatoes and rice.
In May, AstraZeneca's annual meeting in London was disrupted by protesters
dressed as tomatoes from the campaign group, Genetic Engineering Network.
About 20 demonstrators were also involved in an occupation of the company's
headquarters.
Deutsche Bank said growing negative sentiment was also creating problems
for [ Monsanto ] , the American biotechnology company and Novartis, the
Swiss life sciences group.
Last year, Monsanto came under fire after the revelation that its
genetically modified soya beans were being shipped to Europe and mixed with
ordinary soya. Campaigners attacked the move as a ploy to force the public
to eat transgenic food.
Date: Fri, 3 Sep 1999 06:40:32 -0500 Alison Power, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Genetic engineering cereals to resist the barley yellow dwarf virus (BYDV)
might indirectly cause farmers difficulties in controlling related weeds,
says a researcher. A report presented at the Ecological Society of
America's annual meeting indicates that the resistance engineered into oats
could spread to wild oats, a problematic weed. Transgenic barley and oats
that can resist BYDV have been developed, but there is concern that because
these crops can hybridize with wild relatives, that the introduced genes
will escape into related weeds. Alison Power, an ecologist at Cornell
University says that if wild oats gain resistance to BYDV, they could
become a much larger problem for farmers, and might also disrupt natural
habitats outcompeting other native species.
Power grew oats and wild oats in greenhouses and infected them with the
BYDV. She found that infected wild oats did not perform well: they were
much thinner and had shorter roots than uninfected controls and infected
oats. Infected wild oats also produced fewer seeds than normal. "A
BYDV-resistant transgene transfer seems likely to help wild oat
survivability," concludes Power.
Contact: Alison Power, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology,
E331A Corson Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853,USA.
Tel. +1 (607) 254 4233
Fax: +1 (607) 255 8088 Date: Fri, 3 Sep 1999 06:40:32 -0500 By Bob Burgdorfer
CHICAGO, Sept 2 (Reuters) - The global battle over genetically modified
crops moved closer to U.S. farmers this week when agribusiness giant Archer
Daniels Midland Co. (NYSE:ADM - news) warned suppliers to keep such crops
separate from conventional ones.
With harvest only days away in the Corn Belt, farmers and grain merchants
heeding the warning will be forced to absorb additional storage and
handling costs, industry sources said.
said Kevin
Aandahl, spokesman for the National Corn Growers Association.
Crops genetically altered to resist pests or herbicides debuted three years
ago in the United States and their use has skyrocketed. An estimated 35
percent of this year's U.S. corn crop and 55 percent of soybeans – almost
five billion bushels in total – will derive from genetically modified (GM)
seeds.
But consumer groups in Asia and the European Union (EU), both major export
markets, have generated a tide of protest against the use of GM crops in
foods and livestock feed.
ADM said in a statement this week that some customers are basing their
purchases on the genetic origin of crops.
We encourage you as our supplier to segregate nongenetically enhanced
the statement said.
ADM is a major buyer of crops, with more than 500 grain elevators and 355
crop processing plants worldwide.
ADM's request was not unexpected. The American Soybean Association advised
its members earlier this year to expect requests to keep GM and
conventional crops separated.
We are anticipating that Japan alone is going to be needing 700,000
said
ASA spokesman Bob Callanan.
Date: Fri, 3 Sep 1999 06:40:32 -0500 By Irene Marushko
WINNIPEG, Sept 2 (Reuters) - Several Canadian environmental and public
interest groups said on Thursday they would join forces to educate
Canadians about genetically modified (GM) foods and possibly push to have
them removed from store shelves.
We arrived at agreement around the table that we wanted to work together,
that public education was necessary, and to look at the regulatory
said Jean Christie of Rural Advancement Foundation
International.
The group, which monitors Canada's international policy negotiations on
biodiversity, joined environmental groups like the Sierra Club and
Greenpeace and the Council of Canadians, an independent citizens' group, to
act together on the issue.
The groups at the least advocate labeling of GM food products made from
crops that have been genetically modified to resist pests or herbicides.
At the most, they want sales of the products stopped.
Christie told Reuters from Ottawa.
She said more research must be done to ensure that GM foods are safe to
human health. The foods came into wide use in North America three years ago.
Awareness of GM foods has been slow to grow in Canada and the United
States, in sharp contrast to Europe where protests have been so strong that
many retailers have refused to sell GM products.
European buyers have rejected Canadian canola, a major oilseed crop which
is mostly genetically modified.
Canadian farmers also grow GM soybeans and corn, but the province of
Ontario recently said it would begin segregating GM corn from regular corn
to meet the demands of buyers who are responding to public concerns.
We never had a
The agricultural industry in North America has defended GM products, saying
they are no different from regular food.
But several large agribusiness companies have started to ask grain
suppliers to segregate the crops to meet customer demands.
European protests have centered on concerns about the health and
environmental effects of GM crops and foods, and consumer groups, food
makers and supermarkets have increasingly demanded segregation and labeling
of GM food
products.
Christie estimated that 84 million acres worldwide have been planted to GM
crops. This area is forecast to increase to 140 million acres next year.
They (GM crops) are in two-thirds of the processed food that's sold in
she said.
U.S. agribusiness giant Archer Daniels Midland Co. (NYSE:ADM - news)
recently warned its grain suppliers to begin segregating genetically
modified corn, soybeans and other crops from conventional crops.
Date: Fri, 3 Sep 1999 06:40:32 -0500 By David Brough
LISBON, Sept 2 (Reuters) - A reported call by U.S. grain giant Archer
Daniels Midland Co (NYSE:ADM - news) for growers to segregate genetically
modified (GM) from conventional crops could lead to a resumption of sales
of U.S. cut-levy maize to Iberia, Spanish traders said.
The U.S. has made no sales of reduced-levy corn to Spain and Portugal for
many months because of concerns among importers that shipments may include
GM varieties not yet approved by the European Union (EU).
The Wall Street Journal reported in Thursday's online edition that ADM was
faxing statements on crop segregation to grain elevators throughout the
U.S. Midwest in what the Journal called a sign that concern in Europe and
Asia about GM crops was affecting American exporters.
** NOTICE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is
distributed for research and educational purposes only. **
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http://www.natural-law.ca/genetic/geindex.html
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US Merchants Introduce NON-GE Schemes
Regional Merchandising Manager
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Post Office Box 548/Mt Vernon
Indiana 47520
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"The Ship of Fools Sails On"
University of Western Ontario,
E-mail:
jcummins@julian.uwo.ca,
September 1, 1999
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Japan food maker to drop gene-altered soybeans
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Call to Phase Out Marker Genes in Genetically Modified Food.
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Campaigners, stores welcome ADM call on gene crops
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GM Firms Top of Ethical Investors' Blacklist
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Virus-Resistant Crops Could Help Weeds
E331A Corson Hall, Cornell University
Email:
agp4@cornell.edu
http://www.es.cornell.edu/power/power.html
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U.S. farmers face extra work, costs in GM crop battle
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Canadian groups join in anti-GM food fight
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US corn sales to Iberia could resume if GMOs segregated
Consumer Right to Know Campaign,
for Mandatory Labelling and Long-term
Testing of all Genetically Engineered Foods,
500 Wilbrod Street
Ottawa, ON Canada K1N 6N2
tel. 613-565-8517 fax. 613-565-1596
email:
rwolfson@concentric.net