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The Huron Expositor, 1997-11-05, Page 18IS—TU HURON 11XPOSn o 1• Nauaai« a, 1.07 • Bio -technology making huge revolution on food industr BY GREGOR CAMPBELL Expositor Staff Bio-tochnology is happen- ing now and it is as "huge" a "revolution" as humankind's switch from hunting and gathering to mechanization, Dr. Gord Surgeoner told the Huron County Federation of Agriculture's recent annual meeting in Seaforth. It is about engineering with living cells and organisms. "If you hide from risk you hide from its potential rewards," the bio -technology expert some call "the bug man" at the University of Guelph concluded, after a fascinating talk. This revolution is going on right now in Huron, and around the world. There are cloned sheep on the Highlands, and flocks of transgenic ones producing a substance scientists think might beat cystic fibrosis. So far, the results of• this bio -technological revolution "have not been as good as hoped and not as bad as feared," Dr. Surgeoner says. "We now have to figure where we sit as individuals and a society." Fifteen years ago canola didn't really exist, he said. It was a called rapeseed. Bio- technology took away its tox- ins. And "two years ago the value of canola grown on the Canadian prairies exceeded that of wheat, whereas it didn't exist in 1982." On the flip side for farmers, bio -technology can create competitors where there were none. Dr. Surgeoner used for example "beautiful ripe tomatoes from Leamington," that pale imports by compari- son, particularly at certain times of the year." ,Bio -tech- nology means Mexican pro- ducers can now make their tomatoes look the same way. ADVICE TO FARMERS Farmers would be wise to use bio -technology with an eye to. value (such as say, lower input costs), higher quality (for instance taking out micro -toxins), higher yields with the same inputs, new markets and to reduce the risks inherent in farming, by using fon example bio- technological varieties that eliminate the need for replanting, or have resistance to specific insects and dis- ease. And farmers have already taken to the revolution, with Roundup -ready soybeans, for example. An herbicide is.in them. They are genetically manipu- lated, were developed rela- tively recently and are popu- lar around here. Dr. Surgeoner said 50 per cent of the soybeans expected to be planted in the U.S. next year will be this Roundup -ready kind. Bio -technology is also now a big business, getting bigger. Pharmaceutical (such as Monsanto and Dupont) and seed companies are coming together in the market place and they expect a fair return for their labour and invest- ment. "Big" doesn't neces- sarily equal bad either, the U of G scientist says. Big means they can be made accountable, and the companies are not going to risk the marketplace with products that are not good. On the other hand, "people want the right to eat what they want," Dr. Surgeoner says. BENEFITS & RISK "Technology is not a 'friend' or 'foe,' but how we manage it has benefits and risks." What if we can take out allergen that can kill some people in peanuts, he asked? Or develop corn with the traits of a crocus, that does not die with the first frost, and thus wouldn't sometimes require replanting? Winter can be looked at as a compet- itive disadvantage for Ontario's farmers, he says. There is a plant that reduces diabetes in mice. Can the genetics of this be applied to humans? Can we escape this revolu- tion? If a cow eats genetically - manipulated corn, does it ELECT DAVE HALLMAN for County of Huron Area #2' PUBLIC SCHOOL BOARD TRUSTEE •Committed to improving education *Available to constituents •Dependable for parents and students •Responsible to taxpayers "Your Support is Appreciated" ANSTETT become a bio -technological beast? Dr. Surgeoner says in Europe, McDonald's is now advertising snacks it claims aren't bio -technologically altered. The fast food giant may honestly believe this, he says, but he doubts that the compa- ny's chicken nuggets, or whatever, haven't been touched by bio -technology somewhere along the line, in their feed or processing. As individuals and as a society we are part of a plant - animal -human continuum. Farmers run risks in not accepting the new technolo- gy, he says, perhaps by losing market share. In England right now, he observed, the #1 and #2 selling tomato pastes are genetically -altered, and clearly so labeled. They also cost on average 5e less than the competition. "It's cheaper, looks like and acts like tomato paste." ACROSS SPECIES Bio -technology is an old science in one sense, Dr. Surgeoner says, it is why Black Angus and Holstein are the way they are, and bred for it. Corn originally looked and tasted little like it does now. "What is new is our ability Environment group Several agricultural groups and organizations interested ins the environment have formed the Huron farm envi- ronmental coalition. According to an Oct. 23 press release after the second meeting organized by the Huron County Federation of Agriculture, the coalition is willing to accept the water pollution findings of local conservation authorities "and understands the issues of nitrates, phosphates and nutrient management have a role in water quality." The next step "is a meeting of representatives from each organization to set more spe- cific goals." "We will work with other groups to address environ- mental issues important to society concerned about water quality," says Bob Down, president of the Ontario Corn Producers Association. "We are not a group to defend what agriculture iv. doing but to identify specific problem areas," says Jack Flanagan of Huron Beef Producers. "No one group can be devolved of the responsibility to clean up their share of the problem." "We are part of the larger community and are prepared to work with other groups to solve the problem collective- ly," says Henry Boot, presi- dent of the Huron agricultural federation. Anstett Jewellers Presents... 11 weep INVENTORY CLEARANCE IS BACK: Save 20" to cy we're ig a U V cleann sweep eppof a huge selection of • RINGS ■ DIAMONDS • WATCHES ■ EARRINGS ■ COLOURED STONES and lots morel Your last chance In 1997 to take advantage of Clean Sweep Savings starts Wednesday, November 8 JEWELLERS 8 Albert Street, Clinton ♦ 482-3901 .rl lACO to move genetic material between species," he says. Some peoples most con- cerned with the ethics of tragsgenics as it, applies to animals, for instance sheep cloned or bred for pharma- ceuticals. Our ility to move genetic mat 1 took off with the kttbw a "discov- ered" about DNA molecules around 1953. All living things have a genetic code expressed in their smallest parts, and even for the simplest of these things their genetic code is almost unimaginably com- plex. The information contained in the cell of a wheat plant would fill 1,700 books, or 1.7 -million pages that would take up the space of a 20 - story building, Dr. Surgeoner says. Now bio -technology, genet- ics and computers, can isolate and shuffle this deck for parental types as never before, saving years and years of the hit-and-miss cross -breeding that was com- practise in the recent pmt, going back to Gregor Mendel and his work with peas. You can take a trait from one plant or animal and trans- fer it across and beyond far fasta, Vidt tra tegenies. One of the women rn the Dr. Satsgeoner is at pbfessor audience (not frenzied) dur- in the department of environ- ing the professor's speech at mental biology at the U of 0, the Seaforth and District where he originally got his Community Centres Oct. 24, Bachelor of Science in agri- remembered the sante kind of culture. He got his PhD from horrific predictions for farm - Michigan State University in ing here in Huron when her 1976, has written in tho father first switched to a steel vicinity of 65 papers on bio- plow. technology, and is a scientific Bio -technology is but a advisor to the federal depart- tool, Dr. Surgeoner stressed, ment of national defence, we should be looking at what among other accomplish- is unique and the things we menta. should be doing to give CHANGE FRIGHTENS Ontario agriculture an advert - The speaker that introduced cage." him at the Huron F of A meeting said they affection- Farts executive ately call Surgeoner "the bug man or the mosquito man" on intact at meeting campus. He is currently part of a bio -technology concern at Guelph that involves 15 farm operations, 12.companies, five universities, two levels of government and interna- tional dollars. In the not too -distant past, when trains were in their infancy, Dr. Surgeoner says experts in Austria in the -early 1800s predicted dire conse- quences from these engines that could now reach unheard of speeds. of 15 mph. They said the human lung would collapse and women would get frenzied. The Huron County Federation of Agriculture returned its executive intact when it held its annual meet- ing at the Seaforth and District Community Centres on Oct. 24. Hen ',',y ,remains d " `'wn first vice p 1 d Charles Regele second -vice of the 2,000 member area organization. The remaining executive gets elected at the first board meeting, Nov. 19. Regional directors and dele- gates to the Ontario Federation of Agriculture convention in Toronto from Nov. 24 to 25 were also selected. Convention delegates from Huron Central, and area that takes in Seaforth are: Regele, Bill Wallace and Carol Leeming, with Brenda McIntosh as alternate. The position of regional director for Huron Central remains vacant. Down and Murray Dawson are the convention delegates for Huron South, with Beatrice Dawson as regional director. For Huron, North-West, Neil Vincent, Don Dow and Walter Elliott are convention delegates, with Evert Ridder .ire daocaw. _ --�-. _ . , t;,B-' i t tafford and Eldon r •.J"JB wman are the delegates for Huron North-East, with Victor Roland the regional director. PHOTO BY DAVID SCOTT CANCER SURVIVOR - Breast cancer survivor Carol Ann Cole spoke to a crowded Seaforth Legion hall on Thursday evening about her battle with cancer and her unique `Comfort Heart' fundraiser for cancer research. A lull story will appear In next week's Expositor. Foodgrains harvest This Saturday starting at noon, weather permitting, the Seaforth and Area Foodgrains Bank project plans to harvest the 124 acres of corn it has planted this season. Organizers invite the public to come out and watch, and ask anyone who can help with combin- ing or hauling Toads to also come on along. Getting teachers' concerns to public CONTINUED from page 3 "I'm a teacher because I love the kids ... they are going to be our future. We are striking because we care about the future of this province." Dave Bieman, a ZPS teacher, said there is also a misconception that this fight is over a resistance to change. "I don't find a resistance from teachers to change if there is a good reason for it and if k's going to help kids," he said, but shouldered some of the blame for the unions poor public relations. "We've done a lousy job of getting to the public what our concerns are." Bieman, who had studied Bill 160 and had the docu- ment available on a computer at the meeting, said it boils down to the government being given arbitrary powers to make decisions about edu- cation in Ontario. He pointed out that the bill uses the term "order in coun- cil" 37 times, meaning the government can impose changes without public or legislative approval. "You can see the lack of democratic process," he said. In fact, he points out, this year has already been a time of change for teachers as they have been learning and implementing standardized testing, new curriculum and dealing with new report cFds. None of these things, how- ever, are part of Bill 160 or the teacher's job action. Other issues like using non- frontation during the meet- ing!' After one St. Boniface sepa- rate school teacher stood to outline his own extensive training and argued the importance of that back- ground, others seeemed unconvinced. "Non -certified is not the same as non-qualified," argued one identified woman in the crowd. "As a parent, I am fully qualified to teach my own children. "And what about non-certi- ficd volunteers at the schools? You can't go on without them." But while many in the crowd questioned the teach- ers' motives and some of their concerns, there was a sentiment of support that ran through the meeting. "If l:'m going to trust'some- body to have my child's interest at heart, I can trust the teachers as a whole," a speaker said. certified teachers and the role of parents' councils also flared up during the meeting, but were met with assurances and explanations from the teachers. And, in fact, those are two issues that seem to be -at the forefront of parental concern in the area. While parents were assured they would still have a voice at their local schools, the issue. of using non -certified teachers — a practice not too far removed from the educa- tion assistants currently used in Huron County school ' libraries—citified some con- lbfpp may move Exeter o,ffiee BY CALE COWAN SSP News Staff , Huron MPP Helen Johns says if she continuos to get 700 visitors,* daY;'Jib� Il move her Eketer eotlatfbteiicq office. The rookie member of provincial parliament has seen her office turn into a' daily target for picketing teachers, who she worries are causing an impediment to business in downtown Exeter Johns, who is a resident of Exeter, said the hu already made tentative plata to move her office if she gets the word from merchants that the ongoingprotests arc disrupt - in` buness, "I've told them I would move," she said. "Main Street Agatha viable. Johns said she went to the local unions with the con- cerns last week and "begged the teachers to consider this carefully". where her constituency office Except for a brief reprieve is located. last week when teachers "I've had complaints front picketed in Ooderich, they merchants ... there has been have picketed in Exeter every an economic impact," she day since the Ontario -wide said late last week. walkout Oct. 27.