Dear Health Freedom Fighters,
As we reported in our News Update of 5/22/01, a crop trial of genetically engineered corn in the United Kingdom was stopped last week over concern that it would contaminate a nearby organic research facility.
The British newspaper The Independent on Sunday had a follow up article titled "Move to halt crop trials near organic farms."
Anti-genetic engineering campaigners in the UK such as the Soil Association and Greenpeace feel the precedent created by the stop of that field trial last week could give them legal grounds to demand that all other field trials be stopped. The article posted below from The Independent on Sunday will provide more details.
The Campaign to Label Genetically Engineered Foods applauds the efforts in the United Kingdom by groups such as the Soil Association, Greenpeace, Friends of The Earth, the Natural Law Party, Genetic Food Alert, and others in their very effective efforts to fight genetically engineered foods.
Remember, there are no genetically engineered crops being commercially grown in all of Europe. The only exceptions are the test fields that are being aggressively fought against by activists.
THE UNITED STATES SITUATION
Unfortunately, in the United States there are 18.4 million acres of genetically engineered corn planted in the 2001 growing season. Genetically engineered corn has been polluting organic fields since 1996. Unlike pollen from soybeans and cotton, corn pollen can drift for many miles.
With a few exceptions, the organic industry in the United States has been watching this pollution take place and done little to fight back.
In April 1999, it was reported in a front page article in the trade publication, Natural Foods Merchandiser, that the U.S. company Terra Prima had found that a shipment of their organic corn chips were contaminated with genetically engineered corn. These organic corn chips had been shipped to Europe and were tested for the presence of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) as is routinely done by a Dutch importer. The corn chips were destroyed at an expense to the company of $147,000.
You might have thought that this evidence of pollution of the U.S. organic corn supply would have angered the organic industry into action. But now over two years later, there seems to be little organized effort by the organic industry to launch an effective effort to fight the continued pollution of organic corn fields.
One notable exception is Farm Verified Organic, a 21 year old certifying agency in North Dakota. Farm Verified Organic has been very outspoken on this problem. They have issued press releases and organized press conferences to give this issue further attention.
The President and CEO of Farm Verified Organics, Annie Kirschenmann, also serves on the Board of IFOAM, the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements.
I have included a press release below from IFOAM that expresses concern about the corn pollution in the United States and calls for a worldwide ban on the planting of all genetically engineered crops.
THE CAMPAIGN'S UPCOMING ACTION ALERT
As we have previously stated, The Campaign to Label Genetically Engineered Foods feels the issue of organic corn pollution from genetically engineered corn could be the "Achilles heel" for the agricultural biotech industry. The ONLY way to stop organic corn from being polluted by genetically engineered corn is to stop growing the genetically engineered corn.
On June 1st, The Campaign to Label Genetically Engineered Foods will launch a letter-writing ACTION ALERT to the U.S. Department of Agriculture demanding that they enact a moratorium on the planting of any more genetically engineered corn in the United States.
Even though The Campaign to Label Genetically Engineered Foods supports a moratorium on the growing of all genetically engineered crops for many reasons, this ACTION ALERT and campaign will focus only on the pollution of organic corn fields from genetically engineered corn.
Wars are won by fighting individual battles. The battle to save the United States organic corn supply from further contamination from genetically engineered corn is one that needs to be fought now!
Consumers of organic products and the organic industry in the United States can no longer simply sit back and watch the pollution take place. We must fight back!
The United States Department of Agriculture is the agency that can impose a moratorium on the growing of genetically engineered corn. Secretary of Agriculture, Ann Veneman, will be targeted with this ACTION ALERT letter-writing campaign.
We will also provide letters to go to members of the U.S. Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, And Forestry Committee and members of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Agriculture. These two Congressional committees oversee the Department of Agriculture.
The Campaign to Label Genetically Engineered Foods invites and encourages environmental groups, the organic industry, the natural products industry and all concerned citizens to participate in this focused effort to implement a moratorium on the planting of any more genetically engineered corn in the United States.
The ACTION ALERT begins June 1st. Letters will be posted on our web site on that date and you will receive additional details by e-mail.
Craig Winters Executive Director
The Campaign to Label Genetically Engineered Foods
The Campaign
PO Box 55699
Seattle, WA 98155
Tel: 425-771-4049
Fax: 603-825-5841
label@thecampaign.org
http://www.thecampaign.org
Mission Statement: "To create a national grassroots consumer campaign for the purpose of lobbying Congress and the President to pass legislation that will require the labeling of genetically engineered foods in the United States."
Environmentalists are taking legal advice to see if they can stop all trials of GM crops near organic farms, after one near Europe's biggest research centres for pesticide-free farming was scrapped last week.
The anti-GM campaigners believe an important precedent has been set by the abandonment of the trial, two miles from the Henry Doubleday Research Association Centre at Ryton near Coventry, following an exclusive in the Independent on Sunday. The industry fears they may be right and that, as a result, its entire programme for introducing GM crops to Britain could be jeopardised.
Research by Greenpeace and the Soil Association has revealed that 31 of this year's trials, from Herefordshire to the Scottish Highlands, and Shropshire to Kent, are about the same distance, or less, from an organic farm as the scrapped test is to the Centre. In all, about 24 farms are involved, because some are near two or more trial sites.
Scimac, the GM industry body responsible for the trials, called off the test at the last minute last week under intense pressure from Michael Meacher, the Environment minister, and agricultural ministers backed by Downing Street. Until then, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and the Prime Minister had been unfaltering supporters of GM crops.
The Soil Association said yesterday that it was consulting lawyers to see if last week's decision gave it a legal basis to demand that the Government stop all trials near organic farms.
Its position has been strengthened because ministers have discovered that they do have the power, under EU law, to force GM crops to be grown at a safe distance from organic farms.
Mr Meacher and his counterpart in the Welsh Assembly, Carwyn Jones, have been told by legal experts that they can lay down minimum "separation distances" between GM and other crops to avoid contamination. Mr Jones told the Welsh Assembly that this "has the effect of introducing, for the first time, a statutory safeguard of organic reproduction".
It was "a means to provide a basis to safeguard organic production in Wales," he added.
The Soil Association believes that if it gets legal clearance it will be able to challenge, through a judicial review, any decision to site a trial closer than two miles from an organic farm. It might even be able to contest decisions to put them closer than six miles, since authoritative research shows bees can carry pollen from oilseed rape that far.
Patrick Holden, the association's director, said last night: "The Independent on Sunday's campaign pressured the industry until it cracked over the Ryton site last week and played an important part in this vital victory.
"We are determined to ensure the purity of organic produce in Britain and we are prepared to go to court to do so. Farmers have the right to grow crops free from the fear of genetic pollution, and consumers have the right to choose to buy uncontaminated food."
IFOAM - International Federation of Organic Agriculture
Movements
PRESS RELEASE Friday March 9th 2001, 3pm http://www.ifoam.org/press/gmo.html
Despite the organic movement's stringent efforts to keep GMOs (genetically engineered /modified organisms) out of organic production, some US organic farmers have found their corn (maize) crops, including seeds, to contain detectable levels of genetically engineered DNA.
"Those who claim ownership rights to these genes should be held liable for their uncontrolled spread in the environment and into our food," says Gunnar Rundgren, President of the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), which unites 730 member organisations in 103 countries.
The organic movement is firm in its opposition to any use of GMOs in agriculture, and organic standards explicitly prohibit their use. The farmers, whose seed is contaminated, have been under rigid organic certification, which assures that they did not use any kind of genetically modified materials on their farms. Any trace of GMOs must have come from outside their production areas. While the exact origin is unclear at this time, it is most likely that the pollution has been caused by pollen drift from GMO-fields in surrounding areas. However, the contamination may have also come from the seed supply. Seed producers, who intended to supply GMO-free seed, have also been confronted with genetic pollution and cannot guarantee that their seed is 100% GMO-free.
"This is more evidence that GMOs are polluting the environment in a way that is outside the control of society or the companies that have released these GMOs, and we are outraged. It means that consumers could soon be deprived of their right to choose GMO-free food, if this unwanted spread of genetically altered genes is not stopped," Gunnar Rundgren continues.
Organic products remain the best option for consumers who wish to avoid GMO-food and resist their use in agriculture. Organic farmers and independent certification agencies will take all reasonable measures to prevent contamination. However, IFOAM, organic farmers and certifiers can not do this job alone. Unless action is taken immediately, it may soon be impossible to produce uncontaminated organic corn crops in the US. This is equally true for conventional farmers who want to produce corn without GMOs.
The problem of pollution not only has direct consequences for organic farmers; it also means a dramatic loss of the cultural heritage of agricultural varieties, which has huge implications for populations around the world. For thousands of years, humans have selected and bred natural varieties adapted to unique climatic zones and regional properties, in order to provide us with quality food. It is the aim of organic agriculture to preserve this natural way, based on sound scientific and ecological principles.
IFOAM calls on governments and regulatory agencies throughout the world to immediately ban the use of genetic engineering in agriculture and food production, while there is still a chance to stop this unwanted pollution. IFOAM further holds genetic engineering industries responsible for the damage they have inflicted on organic farmers. Governments are therefore urged to pass legislation that makes GMO companies liable for all genetic pollution caused by the products they own.
Anaheim/USA and Tholey-Theley/Germany March 9th 2001
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