GMOs & Us
12 Jan 2015
Garden expert Mikl Brawner explains why GMOs are controversial.
by Mikl Brawner
Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are not natural. Genes from often vastly different beings are “shot” into each other using a gene gun or other method. Some of the results are valuable to the industry, like a plant with herbicide tolerance, or a plant with a built-in pesticide. But there are many unknown consequences that are not immediately obvious.
Concerns about GMOs fall into two categories: 1.) health concerns for humans who eat processed foods that contain GMO corn, soy, canola or sugar beets (like chips, cereals, snack packs, tortillas, etc.), or who eat animals (chicken, pork, steaks, processed meats, etc.) raised on GMO feed; and 2.) concerns about biodiversity and the environment. Because GMO crops easily contaminate other seed crops, there is increasing loss of heirloom and non-GMO seeds, and risk of contaminating organic crops.
Also, since much of the current use of GMOs is for resistance to Roundup herbicide, the use of Roundup has increased dramatically, causing higher concentrations in the plants and animals we eat. Roundup has been shown to harm soil organisms, to harm trees growing nearby, to reduce food for monarch butterflies, bees and other pollinators, and to pollute air and water. Roundup is not safe once it touches the soil, and Roundup is not harmless to humans—those were marketing myths promulgated by Monsanto, the agrochemical company that makes Roundup.
In general, the GMO model of industrial agriculture is not earth friendly or sustainable. GMO seeds and related pesticides have been peddled around the world, replacing local seeds saved for generations and bankrupting thousands of farmers, including farmers in India where, in their hopelessness, many have committed suicide. (See Frontline’s “Seeds of Suicide” episode and the documentary Bitter Seeds.)
The concern about GMO’s effects on human health is difficult to validate. For one thing, Monsanto requires buyers of GMO seed to sign an agreement that if the seeds are used in research, the results must be okayed by Monsanto before publishing. Toxicity tests have had conflicting results, and clinical toxicology tests in humans have never been conducted.
Despite the lack of any real evidence of GMOs’ safety, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has defined GMO foods as being “substantially equivalent” to existing foods and therefore the FDA only needs to review data provided by the chemical companies producing them.
However, determining what is “substantially equivalent” by compositional analysis can fail to identify all sources of toxicity, and a toxic gene may not show up until the organism is under environmental stress. This may result in human problems such as allergies and gastrointestinal problems, which have been observed in GMO studies on laboratory rats.
We cannot know if the skyrocketing health problems in the last 10 years or so, including diabetes, food allergies, gluten intolerance, ADHD, autism and clinical depression, among others, may be related to GMOs because they are not labeled or adequately researched.
Sixty-four countries have been concerned enough to require labeling of GMOs. These include the European Union, Japan, Australia, Mexico, Russia and even China. The United States has not required labeling.
Round ’n’ Round We Go
Because 31 weed species have developed resistance to Roundup, which contains glyphosate as its active ingredient, Dow Chemical developed “2, 4-D resistant” corn and soy seeds. The USDA approved these GMO seeds in 2014, even though the agency admits it could cause “significant environmental harm.” What we do know is that many GMO crops contains Bacillus thurengensis (Bt), a bacterial toxin that is a built-in pesticide in many GMO plants. This toxin is not broken down in digestion. In a Canadian test, the toxin was found in 93 percent of pregnant women and 80 percent of fetuses.
- On Election Day, Colorado voters rejected Proposition 105, which would have required labeling foods containing GMOs. Big corporations and agrochemical companies outspent the pro-GMO labeling campaign by 22 to 1. So far, only three states have passed measures to label GMOs—all in New England and all facing legal hurdles, while 64 other countries (including China) have strict GMO labeling requirements.
Mikl Brawner and his wife, Eve Reshetnik, own Harlequin’s Gardens Sustainable Nursery and Garden Center in Boulder.
