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80% of US soy crop is genetically engineered.
One-third of US corn crop contains a gene from a bacterium
that kills insects. 6 out of every 10 processed foods
contain genetically modified materials.
What's NOT in organic
All organic products are certified to have been produced
and processed without a number of dubious substances:
- persistent, synthetic herbicides/pesticides, increasingly
linked to birth defects, cancer, and other health problems
- sewage sludge, containing dangerous toxins including
pesticides, heavy metals, asbestos, industrial solvents,
pesticides, plus bacteria, fungi, parasites, and viruses
- genetically modified organisms, not yet tested for
their impact on humans or the environment
- irradiated materials, the use of which remains controversial
- growth hormones and antibiotics, the use of which
in animal production has been linked to antibiotic resistance
in bacteria.
Selected Sources
The Organic Foods Sourcebook by Elaine Marie Lipson
($15.95, Contemporary Books, 2001)
"OTA Fact Sheet: Sewage Sludge," www.ota.com
What's on your PLATE?
Most Americans don't realize that
theyØre eating genetically modified (GM) food every
day. Unlike traditional agricultural practices like
cross pollination and hybridization, genetic engineering
mixes materials from animals or bacteria with plants
to create totally new organisms in the laboratory. While
the biotech industry claims that splicing pharmaceutical
drugs, vitamins, and herbicides into plants can provide
more nutritious or weather-resistant species, "there
has not been a systemic study of their safety,"
says the Union of Concerned Scientists' Jane Rissler,
a former biotechnology regulator at the Environmental
Protection Agency. In addition to concerns over long-term
effects on human health, negative environmental effects
have already been reported.
"You can't control genes," says
ecologist Alan Gray, who heads the UK's Advisory Committee
on Releases to the Environment, a group concerned over
GM crops contaminating natural plants. For example,
a crop genetically engineered with an herbicide could
pollinate wild plants, creating the potential for herbicide-resistant
weeds.
That's one reason the European Union (EU)
recently voted to require strict labeling of GM ingredients
in both food and livestock feed, a move certain to create
problems for conventional farmers in this country. Currently
80 percent of the US soy crop is genetically engineered
and one-third of US corn contains a gene from a bacterium
that kills insects. Approximately 6 out of every 10
processed foods contain GM materials.
While Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH)
has recently introduced sponsored legislation to label
GM food in this country, only organic crops are certain
to be grown without genetic engineering. But even these
crops may be subject to "genetic drift" if
GM crops are grown nearby.
"You cannot build a wall high enough
to keep GMOs [genetically modified organisms] out of
the environment, as pollen often drifts for miles on
the wind, potentially contaminating everything in its
path," explains Arran Stephens at Nature's Path,
an organic food manufacturer. In addition to supporting
GM labeling on foods, the Organic Trade Association
recommends that biotech companies be held liable for
any negative effects on crops from genetic engineering.
Selected Sources
"Food Fight" by Sally Deneen, E Magazine,
7-8/03
"From the Laboratory to Your Plate" by Paul
Elias, Associated Press in Philadelphia Inquirer, 6/30/03
"Europe Acts to Require Labeling of Genetically
Altered Food" by Lizette Alvarez, New York Times,
7/3/03
"Humans May Spread GM Seeds" by John Whitfield,
Nature, 6/18/03
"OTA Endorses Kucinich Genetic Engineering Bills,"
OTA News Flash, 7/25/03
The Voice of the People
Probing Americans' views on food
and agricultural practices, researchers at 11 universities
found:
- 92 percent of consumers want labeling for genetically
modified foods (GMOs).
- 81 percent said they would pay more for food grown
according to sound environ-mental methods.
- 61 percent expressed concerns about environmental
problems caused by conventional farming practices. And
according to a November 2002 E-brain survey, 63 percent
of American consumers choose organic products for health
and safety reasons.
Selected Sources
" Consumer Trends," The Organic Report, 7/03
- NBJ's Organic Foods Report, 2003, Nutrition Business
Journal, 2003
The US House of Representatives recently
voted to keep American consumers in the dark about the
source of our food. Although country-of-origin labeling
was signed into law last year, last summer's 208-193
vote in the House could exempt meat products, as well
as fruits and vegetables, from such labeling if the
Senate follows suit.
"It would be completely irresponsible
to reverse course," says Senate Minority Leader
Tom Daschle (D-SD). "The recent mad cow scare in
Canada is one more reminder that the new labeling law
can serve as an important marketing and informational
tool." The US Department of Agriculture immediately
closed the border to Canadian cattle when mad cow disease
was discovered in that country, as it did several years
ago to British cattle. Some 135 people (mostly in Great
Britain) have died from mad cow disease in the past
few years.
Mad cow disease, which destroys tissue
in the nervous system in both cattle and those who consume
infected meat, has been linked to the practice of feeding
animal parts to cattle. While federal regulations have
banned most mammal protein from US cattle feed, the
rules are not completely air tight, since federal inspections
have turned up violations.
"Organic meat is a true alternative
for families concerned about...meat that may carry mad
cow disease," says Organic Valley's founding farmer
George Siemon. "Organic meat comes from animals
that have been raised on a pure organic diet nothing
but certified organic feed and pasture. This means they
are never fed rendered animal by-products that could
have been contaminated with mad cow disease," he
explains. Thanks to strict regulations, all certified
organic food and drink has a "paper trail"
from field through processing and packaging to the store,
where even the way organic products are handled and
displayed is subject to clear and careful rules.
Selected Sources
"Canada Scurries to Trace Mad Cow as Beef Ban Grows"
by Colin Nickerson, Boston Globe, 5/22/03
"Mad Cow Disease Lesson in Food Safety," Seattle
Post-Intelligencer, 5/22/03 Organic Foods Sourcebook
by Elaine Marie Lipson ($15.95, Contemporary Books,
2001)
"Origin Labels for Meat Defeated in House Vote,"
Associated Press, 7/15/03
Why Bother?
Irradiating meat provides only slightly
greater protection against food-borne disease than no
treatment at all, finds a new study by Consumer Reports.
In addition, food testers complained that irradiated
chicken and hamburger had "a slightly scorched
taste and a smell reminiscent of singed hair."
Irradiation bombards food with electrons or gamma rays
in an attempt to inactivate disease-causing bacteria.
After analyzing more than 500 packages
of irradiated and nonirradiated meat available in supermarkets
in 60 US cities, Consumer Reports found that zapping
food with gamma rays doesn't "kill any more bacteria
than proper cooking." While irradiation of foods
has increased (at least partially in response to last
yearØs recall of approximately 57 million pounds of
meat from concerns about E. coli), this process "is
not the solution to food-borne illnesses," says
Consumer Reports' Kim Kleman.
Over the protests of thousands of parents,
the US Department of Agriculture recently approved irradiated
food for school cafeterias. But because the final decision
to zap your child's food has been left up to individual
school districts, parents can voice their opinions with
their school board. If your childØs school does use
irradiated meat, send an organic lunch instead.
Selected Sources
"Irradiated Meat OK'd for School Cafeterias"
by Randy Fabi, Boston Globe, 5/30/03
"Irradiated Meat's Value Questioned" by Bruce
Mohl, Boston Globe, 5/9/03
Taste
for Life¬ (ISSN 1521-2904) is published monthly by CCI,
86 Elm Street, Peterborough NH 03458-1009, 603-924-7271
(fax 603-924-7013); ©2003 Connell Communications, Inc.
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