The Rural Voice, 1999-04, Page 12Consumers
Agriculture is looking at a possible
PR disaster of worldwide proportions.
I can find nothing telling farmers of
what is happening or how to cope with
this pending honib blast of had
publicity in the pages of any of last
year's issues of the official magazine
of the Ontario Corn Producer's
Association.
Genetically modified crops (GM)
have been hammered by the European
press just as 175 countries met in
Cartagena. Columbia to try and devise
rules to regulate genetically modified
food and crops in a "Biosafety
Protocol". This UN -sponsored
gathering failed to come to any formal -
agreement with grain exporting
countries the main objectors. The
forum will try again in 18 months
time.
What has happened in Europe is
based on one small piece of
preliminar% research where a
possibility nas been taken as fact and
blown out of all proportion. All GM
Robert Mercer
worry about Frankenstein foods
crops and toods are condemned by the
press as either bad for the
environment, or bad for human health.
Originally, the research from Dr.
Pusztai at the
Rowett Institute
for Agriculture
drew attention to
the effects of
genetically
engineered
potatoes on
laboratory rats.
Here the bad guy
was a class of
protein normally
found in
Snowdrops that
was thought to
combat aphids in
potatoes. It stunts
the growth of
rats.
On a second look at the same
results that caused a mild tlurry of
press speculation, and cost Dr. Pusztai
Fanners face
world-wide PR
disaster
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8 THE RURAL VOICE
his job for a while, the interpretation
was different. The cause of the stunted
growth and suppressed immune
systems in the rats might be, the
researchers said, from the process of
the gene change, not the gene itself.
This got the press hounds on the
trail of these poor unfortunate rats.
since the DNA "promoter" used in the
potato trial was a popular one also
used for such crops as com and
soybeans (resistance to corn -borer
moth and Round -up Ready soybeans.)
This little bit of genetic material is 35s
cauliflower -mosaic -virus. If you have
never heard of this you had better
contact your commodity organization
before your local radio station does.
It is time to switch emphasis from
field crop management to refocus
management expertise on combating
consumer ignorance. Consumers have
more votes than farmers.
Agriculture has done a great job of
getting biotechnology and innovative
advances accepted at the farm level.
That is no longer enough. Consumers
in Europe are scared of being used as
human laboratory rats. And no wonder
as the tabloids are having a feeding
frenzy at the expense of Monsanto
with headlines about Frankenstein
Foods, Murphy's Law and The Attack
of the Killer Potatoes.
Is there in fact, any real advantage
of GM crops to consumers?
It is easy to find fault with
preliminary research, but the public is
not scientifically trained. As in politics
perception is 100 per cent of the truth
for consumers over food issues.
Farmers, if they want to continue the
advances in biotechnology, will have
to demand more information on
consumer safety of GM crops from
suppliers, commodity organizations
and their departments of agriculture.
If indeed GM crops do have to be
labelled and held segregated, then the
added handling costs may well make
the yield increases and
herbicide/pesticide savings to farmers
irrelevant. The next cost to farmers is
that now being imposed in Europe
where the community parliament
voted to impose strict corporate
liability and mandatory insurance on
companies that release GM organisms.