Genetically Modified Food- We want labeling.
Japan has said they will watch our children for the next 10 years to see what happens. In the US we have become a giant experiment at the genetic, perhaps evolutionary level. Our food is being genetically modified by inserting genes from bacteria, viruses and antibiotic marker genes. Scientists can now alter evolution. No one knows what eating genetically modified food will do to the human body. Unless you are growing your own food, or buying strictly organic, you have probably eaten genetically altered food.
For 200 years the US patent office on moral grounds said you can’t patent life. In the 1970’s that changed. Corporations like Monsanto are now allowed to patent their technology and allowed to own patents for already existing plant species. Without there ever having been a vote by Congress or a US citizen.
A patent usually infers that something is different enough to be unlike any other. So if these products, products like corn, soy beans, tomatoes, and canola oil are so different that they should be patented, how did they get around having to go through Food and Drug Administration testing? The FDA says, “Any novel substance must be tested.” They did it by saying that this was food and that genetic modification was “Substantially equivalent to standard breeding practices.” And so by likening genetic alterations to hybridization(not a genetic alteration), these big corporations don’t have to test their products and are not required to even label these food products as genetically modified(GM) before they are put on our plates.
What would have been the harm in telling the consumer they were eating food that was genetically altered? If they don’t have to label their food products genetically modified, they don’t have to take responsibility, or be liable if their genetic alterations caused allergic reactions, or worse.
Recently, the labeling debate has come to the forefront of a free trade debate. The European Union countries require genetic labeling. People who live in Europe have a choice whether they eat these experimental products or not. The World Trade Organization has thrown up their “barrier to free trade” guns at the EU. What the WTO is saying is that the EU’s requirement of labeling is a barrier to free trade. Really what the WTO is saying is you can’t protect your citizens, or you will be subject to trade sanctions. This is insane. But the WTO says this a lot and gets away with not allowing countries to protect it citizens.
There are many other issues surrounding the genetic modification of organisms including what is happening to smaller farmers, the seed supply and the environment. More on that later.
What are the solutions? We need labeling on GM foods. We have the right to know and decide for ourselves whether we want to risk our lives and the lives of our children. It may not be that serious, but let’s find out before we have to swallow it whole.
Stay with me as I explore the issues and the solutions in more depth in the coming weeks. There are some good videos that explain the issues in more detail. For now there is a link to your elected officials. Write them. Tell them that you want labels on your food. We want our government to protect and serve us, that’s their job, and tell them that we should have the right to choose whether we eat GM food or not.
What about restaurants?