Is Your Food Genetically Engineered?

[Guest guest]

Is Your Food Genetically Engineered?

© 1999 by Patricia Dines

http://www.living-foods.com/articles/genetically.html

---------------

Living Nutrition #6

http://www.living-foods.com/livingnutrition

----------------

 

" I have the feeling that science has transgressed a barrier that should have

remained inviolate. " -- Dr. Erwin Chargaff, eminent biochemist, a pioneer in our

understanding of DNA and genetics

 

Look closely at the food you ate today. Is it genetically engineered? Did

corporate scientists, in their quest for higher profits and greater control of

our food supply, combine the genetic material of a very different species (like

a fish, bacteria, insect, or animal) into the DNA of that innocent-looking

tomato? Did they do this even though no human testing has been done on the

resulting food, and they acknowledge that they only know what 1% of DNA does -

let alone how the whole inter-related system works together? (What they don't

understand, some presume to call just " junk. " )

 

Hard to tell, isn't it, looking at that otherwise healthy-looking fruit or

vegetable. And there surely was no labeling about this when you bought it.

(Corporations have been fighting against such labeling with all their

considerable might.) And yet, unbeknownst to many, major segments of our food

supply are now being supplanted by new genetically-engineered (GE) varieties at

an alarming rate.

 

Take soy, for instance. In 1997, 15% of U.S. soybeans were grown from GE seed.

By next year Monsanto hopes that will be 100% (60 million acres)!! Other

commodities being bioengineered include corn, potatoes, tomatoes, canola,

cotton, etc., affecting a wide range of foods on our plates and crops in our

ecosystems. (See sidebar.) Claimed benefits of GE (with varied success rates)

include: crop plants making their own pesticides and better resisting increased

amounts of herbicides; and produce seeming fresh longer on the store shelf.

 

Many corporations, often with histories of making toxic pesticides - like

Monsanto, Dow, DuPont, and Novartis - are now betting their futures on this new,

largely untested technology - buying up seed companies, changing relevant laws,

and influencing government leaders. They want nothing to stop them from the

immense profits they anticipate from controlling at an even greater level the

food supply upon which all humans on this planet depend.

 

HARMFUL RESULTS

 

The likely harmful results of this mass uncontrolled experiment, however, are

mind-boggling (some of which have already started happening). Likely harm

includes: Allergic/toxic reactions (to hidden genes and combinations); loss of

individual dietary choice; reduced nutritional integrity in our food supply;

increased use of and dependence on toxic herbicides; errors in production; harm

to farming (deformed crops, increased pest resistance, loss of heirloom and

localized crops, increased farmer costs and debt); harm to, and destruction of,

native species and natural ecosystems (because nature is all connected); crop

failures and food shortages (from worldwide monocropping of this risky

technology); unpredictable and " mysterious " wide-scale health and environmental

harm rippling through communities and ecosystems (often untraceable without

labeling); a new dimension of pollution by corporations with very poor track

records for anticipating or being responsible for the harm they cause

for profit; and an unrecallable experiment with the inter-related ecosystems

upon which all life on this planet depends.

 

Whew! It's really hard to not sound dramatic when exploring the ramifications of

this experiment. Yet top scientists agree that this is indeed what's at stake

when people with little understanding make rapid and drastic changes to the DNA

basis of life with which we have co-evolved and co-survived, and which makes

life on this planet possible. The risks are so high and out of control that

insurance companies are refusing to insure GE!

 

A chilling prospect to those who care about not only the health of themselves

and those they love, but also the health and well-being of this beloved planet,

now and for years to come.

 

SYSTEM CHANGES

 

Just as bad are the fundamental changes corporations are making to our systems

for growing and distributing food. What is an increase in power and profit for

them is a loss of control for us as individuals and communities.

 

A key part of their strategy has been changing patent law so they can patent

their genetically-manipulated life forms as inventions - and often all other

related variations, even trying to go back to the Creator's original! Even if

one thinks it's acceptable to patent life forms, it's hard to defend this

radical redefinition of " invention. "

 

Patenting seeds is central to the corporations' goal of controlling them. It

allows them to lease (rather than sell) GE seeds to people who are not allowed

to save the crop's year-end seeds, but have to keep going back to the company

store for more. The Creator's original design and a 10,000 year old seed-saving

tradition would be gone in a snap. What we got from nature we'd now just get

from corporations - greatly increasing the costs and risks to everyone -

including the billions of subsistence farmers worldwide, living crop to crop,

who'll likely be unable to pay the costs of this brave new world.

 

All of this so wealth and power can be concentrated into even fewer hands.

 

ENFORCEMENT

 

One of the most chilling aspects of these changes is the ways that corporations

plan to enforce their seed patents and prevent people from saving and planting

their year-end seeds. The first is using the police and courts. The article

" Gene Police " , in the February 3, 1999 Washington Post, discusses in horrifying

detail how corporate seed investigations and lawsuits are causing for

communities what local farmers are calling a " reign of terror. "

 

But the second way corporations plan to prevent seed-saving is even more

disturbing: they're developing ways to genetically engineer plants to create

seeds that won't reproduce. The seeds of life become the seeds of death. Suicide

seeds. The activist group RAFI (Rural Advancement Foundation International) has

uncovered over three dozen new patents for genetically-sterilizing plants and

seeds, including one they nicknamed the Terminator. But what are the

ramifications of neutering our food seeds - to our health, our ecosystems, our

survival? Will the food still nurture us on all levels? Who knows. No testing

has been done, no labeling expected. But is it really in our best interest?

Don't we even get a chance to decide . . . ?

 

COMMUNITIES STANDING UP

 

And, for some, this is the most disturbing point of all - that these changes are

being made without us even having a chance to discuss them, weigh the costs and

benefits, decide what we as a democratic society want. Should corporations be

allowed to change the DNA basis of food and life for their profit? Should they

be able to patent life? What controls, testing, and labeling do we as consumers

and sovereign citizens want on this process? These vital questions should at

least be discussed.

 

And what about the alternatives - for our food, communities, world, and future?

Some people would choose a very different future world - with sustainable,

ecological agriculture; healthy, alive food; and communities, not corporations,

making vital choices like these. When do we discuss how we create that world?

 

That's what citizens and consumers all over the globe are insisting be on the

agenda. They are loudly protesting these untested, highly risky changes to our

world, and are instead insisting on a healthier future. And they're impacting

their governments and corporations. If U.S. citizens chose to get that powerful

here, our impact worldwide would be astonishing. Just consider the impact last

year of our record-breaking 300,000 comments rejecting the unacceptable proposed

national organic rules.

 

So, what kind of future do you want? And what can you do (more) to help that

happen?

 

WHAT YOU CAN DO

 

(1) EDUCATE YOURSELF AND OTHERS. This is a pivotal time when much of our future

will be determined. Don't assume someone else will do this for you; be a

positive contribution to a better world. Follow the leads in the Resources box;

contact us for more information.

 

(2) BUY ORGANIC FOOD. This is the only food explicitly defined to keep us out of

this GE experiment. Go to farmers' markets or grow your own. Invest in your

health and a better world. Encourage others to do the same.

 

(3) TAKE COMMUNITY-LEVEL ACTION. Because all nature is connected, and all the

world threatened by GE, community-level action is the only way we can truly

protect ourselves. Write letters to the FDA, EPA, USDA, your Congressional

representatives, and the media. Write articles for newsletters. Get your group

to take a stand against GE. Work with local, national, and international groups

to help make our voices heard. Insist that our community resources and attention

be on agriculture that's sustainable and healthy, not toxic and

corporately-controlled.

 

(4) SUPPORT THE HEROES. Support with your money, time, and passion the people

who provide information and help us all take effective action on these issues so

vital to us all.

 

(5) CELEBRATE. Enjoy deeply the better world that we together create!

 

----------------

Dr. Erwin Chargaff, genetic pioneer often referred to as the father of molecular

biology, warned that all innovation does not result in " progress. " He once

referred to genetic engineering as " a molecular Auschwitz " and warned that it

poses a greater threat to the world than the advent of nuclear technology.

 

Noting the " awesome irreversibility " of GE experiments being planned, Chargaff

warned, " ...you cannot recall a new form of life.... It will survive you and

your children and your children's children. An irreversible attack on the

biosphere is something so unheard of, so unthinkable to previous generations,

that I could only wish that mine had not been guilty of it. "

----------------

 

© Patricia Dines, 1999. All rights reserved.

 

Patricia Dines has been a writer and educator for 15 years. She is founder and

president of Community Action Publications (CAP), a community-supported

organization providing information that helps us all create a healthier, more

joyful world. For more information, see <www.monitor.net/~cap> or contact CAP at

<PDines or 108 Petaluma Ave. #111 Sebastopol CA 95472.

 

----------------

[sIDEBAR #1] What GE Food Have You Eaten Today?

----------------

 

Here are just some of the foods on the market that might be

genetically-engineered:

 

* CORN-BASED: Corn oil, corn starch, corn meal, baking soda, and baking powder.

Corn syrup and fructose (found in almost all beverages and sodas, even health

food brands, and almost all sweet products, yogurt, and aspirin).

 

* SOY-BASED: Soy milk, infant formula, baby foods, diet and protein shakes,

protein bars, chocolate and candy bars, margarine, ice cream, pet food, soy

sauce, soy lecithin, and soy oil (like in salad dressings and snack chips). Soy

flour (in baked goods, pizza, cookies, cakes, and pasta). Fillers in meat

products (like Big Macs). Vegetarian meat substitutes (like tofu, tofu burgers,

tofu hot dogs).

 

* MILK-BASED: Milk, cheese, butter, and products made with them. (When cows are

injected with the GE cow growth hormone rBGH, their milk has shown an increase

of a human growth factor linked to increased cancer. Also most non-organic

cheeses are made with a GE rennet, chymosin.)

 

* ASSORTED: Tomatoes, potatoes, canola oil, cotton seed oil, yellow crook-neck

squash, papaya, pork, fish, livestock who eat GE feed, dough conditioners

(Amylase, Catalase, Lactase), etc.

 

And much more coming - as well as GE insects, viruses, bacteria, etc....

 

----- " Our families are now guinea pigs in the largest food experiment of all

time - without our knowledge or consent. " Laura Ticciati, Mothers for Natural

Law ----- (Thanks go to Judy Kew and Peter Ligotti for gathering most of this

food list.)

 

----------------

[sIDEBAR #2]

----------------

 

Q: If I eat 100% organic food, can I ignore GE?

 

A: A resounding " No! " (1) Do you really eat 100% organic - in your home,

restaurants, potlucks, at friends' homes, school, and work? (2) Does everyone

you care about eat only 100% organic, everywhere they go? (3) When all nature is

connected, how can even the most diligent organic farmer prevent GE seeds and

resistant pests from eventually drifting into their fields? (4) Can anyone

really be untouched if our world's food supply, community structures,

ecosystems, and DNA code are radically and irretrievably harmed?

 

Eating organic is a key step, but it's only part of the solution until we end

this GE madness.

 

----------------

[sIDEBAR #3] Resources for Information and Action

----------------

 

* Mothers for Natural Law (877) REAL-FOOD (515) 472-2809 (Iowa) <

http://www.safe-food.org >. Great GE information; sign their " right to know "

petition for labeling GE food.

 

* Campaign for Food Safety (218) 226-4164 (Minn.) < http://www.purefood.org >

<alliance. Information and e-mail list covering GE, factory farming,

citizen action, etc.

 

* Alliance for Bio-Integrity (515) 472-5554 (Iowa) <

http://www.bio-integrity.org > <info. Coordinating

broad-based lawsuit against the FDA for failing to label and demand testing of

GE food.

 

* Dr. Ron Epstein webpage < http://online.sfsu.edu/~rone/gedanger.htm >

Compilation of powerful essays on " Genetic Engineering and Its Dangers. "

 

* Rural Advancement Foundation International (RAFI) (919) 542-1396 (NC) <

http://www.rafi.org >. Information about suicide seeds, corporations, patents,

and more.

 

* Ecologist Magazine (510) 527-3873 (CA) < http://www.gn.apc.org/ecologist >.

Get a copy of their Monsanto issue.

 

* Physicians and Scientists for Responsible Application of Science and

Technology < http://www.psrast.org > <info

 

* Council for Responsible Genetics (617) 868-0870 (Mass.) <

http://www.essential.org/crg/ > <crg. Sign their " No patents on

life " petition.

 

* Center for Ethics & Toxics (CETOS) (707) 884-1700 (CA) < http://www.cetos.org

>. Their offerings include their book " Against the Grain: Biotechnology and the

Corporate Takeover of our Food. "

_____________

 

This article appeared courtesy of:

 

Living Nutrition PO Box 256 Sebastopol, CA 95473 Subscriptions: 1 year - 4

issues: $24 2 years - 8 issues: $40

 

http://www.living-foods.com/livingnutrition

_________________

JoAnn Guest

mrsjoguest

DietaryTipsForHBP

www.geocities.com/mrsjoguest/Genes

 

 

 

 

AIM Barleygreen

" Wisdom of the Past, Food of the Future "

 

http://www.geocities.com/mrsjoguest/Diets.html