Genetically modified food . . . continued from page 1 trait—a protein, which is toxic to the target pest, is engineered into the crop. The pest comes along, takes a bite, and dies. In the United States, the majority of soy, corn, and cotton crops are genetically modified, Weasel said. Canola, grown largely in Canada, is also a GM crop. Most recently, sugar beets have been genetically modified to resist herbicide, sparking fears among organic farmers in the Willamette Valley that pollen from the GM crops could cross pollinate with their crops, rendering them worthless. But no GM crops find their way to your grocery store’s produce section. At least they’re not supposed to. In 2001 a GM food controversy made headlines when GM corn intended for animals—it’s approved for animal consumption—was mixed into corn intended for humans. There followed reports of people getting allergic reactions after eating the GM corn, although Weasel said the reports were never confirmed. “Only about 10 percent of the corn grown in this country makes its way into human food in any form,” she said. “Most is going out to animals, but we don’t have a separate system to keep nonapproved food out. Inevitably, corn intended for animals is mixed with corn intended for humans.” Another contamination event occurred the following year. A small company, attempting to produce experimental drugs using engineered corn, planted a test plot in Nebraska. The federal government had forbidden the use of that plot for several years after the experiment concluded. But the very next year, a USDA inspector found that the plot had been used for soybeans. “The food was recalled, and the company was fined,” Weasel said, “but the company did not reveal the identity of the experimental pharmaceutical compound because it was considered confidential business information. You can understand that, but it’s very hard to decide if there are any health or environmental concerns when we can‘t see what the protein is.” While in the United States GM foods are largely accepted, such is not the case elsewhere. There is a moratorium on growing GM crops in Europe, and Europeans, seeing them as “unnatural,” will not eat GM foods. In Africa, GM foods have been rejected by some countries despite food shortages. Among other issues, the Africans are concerned that cross-pollination with their crops would endanger their exports to GM-intolerant Europe. India, with a large part of its population connected to agriculture, has been very cautious in approving GM crops. One GM crop—Bt cotton, so called because it contains Bacillus thuriengensis, a toxin lethal to specific insects—has been approved, but no food crops have. In Food Fray, Weasel describes how Indian farmers found their Bt cotton crops “besieged with pests, despite its supposed inherent pesticidal properties.” She describes both the quantity and quality of the Bt cotton crop as poor, netting lower prices—although the farmers paid more for the seeds. Monsanto, a worldwide player in the GM field, countered with a market-research study extolling the wonders of Bt cotton. “And in the meantime,” Weasel writes, “cotton farmers across India continued to commit suicide in alarming numbers.” With most U.S. corn, cotton, and soybeans produced from GM varieties, neither the technology nor the controversy is going away. Weasel described recent ballot measures and court cases involving genetically modified foods, and more legal cases are undoubtedly in the hopper. The battle over GM foods is far from over. Finally, are you eating GM foods? The answer is almost certainly yes. Although it’s highly unlikely that you’ll find genetically modified foods in your grocer’s produce section, GM food ingredients are in more than two-thirds of processed foods on grocery store shelves. It’s in the packaged food, Weasel said, the breakfast cereal, the coffee creamer, in all those things that contain byproducts of soy and corn. But it’s not in your lettuce or strawberries. Well, not yet. Organic farmers in the Willamette Valley fear that GM crops might cross-pollinate with theirs, rendering them worthless
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