TURN YOUR PASSION INTO A BUSINESS - Natural Awakenings

wisewordsGMO Truths andConsequencesHealth and Safety are Question MarksThe food industrytells consumersthat geneticallyengineered foodsare safe. On universitycampuses,agriculture studentslearn that suchgenetically modifiedorganisms (GMO) areboth safe and necessaryto feed the world. TheCouncil for BiotechnologyInformation, a biotech industry-supportednonprofit, even created acoloring book to teach children aboutthe many benefits of GMO crops, includingimproved nutrition.Most GMO crops have beengenetically engineered to withstandspraying with herbicides, such as Monsanto’sRoundup-Ready soybeans, orto produce their own pesticides, suchas “Bt” corn and cotton. Bill Freese, ascience policy analyst at the nonprofitCenter for Food Safety, warns us to beleery of simplistic claims that don’t takeinto account unintended consequences.For example, he points out that, “GMOcrops have nothing to do with feedingthe world, because almost all geneticallyengineered crops are corn andsoybeans... used to feed livestock inrich countries, or to feed automobiles.”Approximately 40 percent of corn currentlyis used to make ethanol.Freese adds, “They don’t increaseyields and they don’t increase nutrition.”But GMO crops have led to astaggering increase in herbicide use,putting both farmers and consumers atgreater risk for exposure to these toxinsby Melinda Hemmelgarnand related diseases, accordingto the Center for Food Safety.So the question is:Are GMOs the panacea industrywants us to believe,or are they contributingto chronic disease?Hereare threeclaims commonlyheardabout GMOs,generally madeby the biotechnologyindustry and theirfunded researchers.Claim: GMOs are safe.Fact Check: Little research existson the long-term effects of consumingGMO foods. According to Douglas Gurian-Sherman,a senior scientist with theUnion of Concerned Scientists, safetyassessments have left us with significantuncertainties about whether GMOfood is safe or not. However, concernsvoiced by the Center for Food Safetyrevolve around potential allergens andtoxins from both herbicide and pesticideresidues and new genetic material.New research from the EuropeanUnion published in Food and ChemicalToxicology adds to growing concernsabout the risks. Researchers discoveredthat rats fed GMO corn and drinkingwater containing Roundup herbicideexperienced negative health effectsduring their two-year lifespan, includingmammary tumors and disabled pituitaryfunction in females, and liver and kidneydamage in males. These outcomes wereattributed to the endocrine-disrupting effectsof Roundup, as well as the geneticmakeup of the engineered corn.What makes this study uniqueand troubling is that it’s the longestsuch study period to date. Most studiesfunded and conducted by industry lastjust 90 days—not long enough to fullydocument potential harm.Michael Hansen, Ph.D., a seniorscientist at Consumer Reports, states ina memo to the American Medical Association’s(AMA) Council on Scienceand Public Health, “Unlike all otherdeveloped countries, the U.S. Foodand Drug Administration does not requiresafety testing for GE [geneticallyengineered] plants.”Hansen explains, “In additionto the FDA not requiring any premarketsafety testing, there is virtuallyno independent safety testing ofthese crops in the United States, dueto intellectual property rights. Whenfarmers buy GE seed in the U.S., theyinvariably must sign a product stewardshipagreement that forbids them fromgiving such seeds to researchers.” Plus,“Researchers must get permission fromthe biotech companies before they cando research, which means there is apaucity of independent research.”The good news is that last June,the AMA recommended mandatorypre-market safety testing to better characterizethe potential harms of bioengineeredfoods.Claim: GMO crops use fewer pesticides,and those used are safer thanmost others and break down quickly.Fact Check: Roundup herbicide isincreasingly sprayed on a growing numberof herbicide-resistant GMO crops,including corn, soy, canola, sugar beetsand most recently, alfalfa. By trackingthe U.S. Department of Agriculture’spesticide use data, Charles Benbrook,research professor at the Center forSustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources,at Washington State University,discovered that herbicide-resistant croptechnology led to a 527-million-poundincrease in herbicide use in the UnitedStates between 1996 and 2011.With the growing presence ofherbicide-resistant weeds, new GEforms of corn and soybeans have beendeveloped to resist stronger and more22 www.wncmountainsna.com