
Image credit: Flyzipper on Flickr
While it is great news that Nelson has been declared a GE-Free Zone, it does not mean we are winning the fight against genetically engineered foods. A renewed effort has begun pushing for the widespread cultivation of genetically engineered wheat. I will deal with this issue in three parts. Today I will discuss why GE wheat is such a dangerous technology to be dealing with.
I will not go into great depth, because it has been covered in detail by people who know more than I do, so I will merely summarize. First off, there are the concerns we have with all GE crops. These include contamination and cross polination. For example, GE rice has never been approved for commercial cultivation, yet Greenpeace tested rice in Vancouver supermarkets, and found a bag of illegal GE rice just one kilometer from my house. They calculated that contamination from GE rice test fields has cost $1.285 Billion (USD). Within two years of GE canola being released, super-weeds were found that were resistant to three different brands of herbicide, because three different strains had interbred. Now non-GE canola is extremely rare. Wheat is self-pollinating, and can cross with a number of other grass species. There is a legitimate cause for concern that once released, we will never be able to go back to a world where non-genetically engineered wheat is readily available.
Next we have to consider the Canadian economy. Wheat exports are a vital part of our farm economy, and our major export markets have declared that they will not import any wheat if we approve GE wheat. One estimate puts losses for Canadian farmers at $185 million per year (Michelle Lang. “Price of Growing GM Wheat Too High: Farmers Would Lose Millions.” The Star Phoenix (Saskatoon). 26 February 2002).
Finally we have to consider the dangers to human health. While the major GE crops that are widely cultivated today, soy, corn and canola, are mostly used for animal feed, wheat is almost exclusively used for human food. I am not trying to say that feeding animals non-GE food is not important, because it is. There have been many documented cases where animals refuse to eat GE feed, and it has been found that novel proteins and DNA material works its way up the food chain. However, we eat most wheat with very little processing. grind it up, throw in some yeast and water, bake, and eat.
Sierra Club - GE Wheat
Organic Consumers Association - GE Wheat - includes links to several other great sites
Next week I will discuss the groundwork that has been done to prevent GE wheat, which Monsanto applied to have approved in 2001.