Mothers and Others


		M & O Consumer Action Kit

		Introduction
		What is genetic engineering?

		Why Care?

		In the Kitchen

		In the Supermarket

		Mothers' Milk List

		On the Farm

		In the Garden

		Government
		Sample Letters to US Government
		Companies--Look Who Is Listening!
		10 Largest Companies

Food, Farms, and Genetic Engineering

WHY CARE?

Genetic engineering has entered our lives with quiet but forceful determination on the part of companies and the government. Without adequate testing, labeling, careful legislative oversight, or public debate, consumers are expected to accept this technology and its promised benefits without a full discussion of its risks. Genetic engineering may cause the most significant changes to farming in our lifetime. It has the potential to permanently change the delicate balance of our natural ecological systems forever. And many scientists warn that the possible risks to human health have not been fully tested for.

Following are some of the many reasons why we should demand adequate safety tests and labeling of GE foods

HUMAN HEALTH AND FOOD SAFETY CONCERNS

Allergenicity
Food allergens can be transmitted by bioengineering, a fact discovered in 1996 when University of Nebraska scientists found that GE soybeans, modified with a gene found in Brazil nuts, caused an allergic reaction in people allergic to Brazil nuts. Bioengineered foods containing common food allergens are required to say so on labels. Less common food allergens do not have to be tested for or labeled. There is also concern that proteins added from non-food sources may become new food allergens. Clearly, labeling of GE foods would help us make safer choices in the marketplace.

Antibiotic Resistance
Many GE foods include some identifying "marker" genes that carry reistance to ampicillin and other antibiotics. Some scientists worry that these antibiotic-resistant genes may escape into the environment and pass on resistance to disease-causing bacteria. Other studies have found that high consuption of foods containing an antibiotic-resistance marker could partially inactivate a low, oral dose of antibiotic in humans.

ENVIRONMENTAL RISKS
"Gene drift" of bioengineered pollen may give destructive weeds a boost.
Most current agricultural biotechnology centers on the creation of herbicide-tolerant, pest-resistant and virus-resistant plants. When pollen from these plants drifts on the wind, it can pass on such traits to weedy relatives, potentially creating new types of superweeds. Already, GE canola has passed on herbicide resistance to weedy relatives in tests.

Stronger insect pestsmay result as insects develop resistance to genetically engineered, pesticide-producing plants.

Increased use of herbicidescan accompany such GE crops as Monsanto's Roundup Ready Soy, which withstands doses of the herbicide Roundup that would kill an unmodified plant. Farmers can use more herbicides without fear of damaging their crops, but this can harm neighboring crops and wild plants, farmworker health, soil fertility, water quality and beneficial insects.

Harm to Beneficial Insects Without the beneficial insects that pollinate plants and feed on pests, we'd have less abundant and varied food choices, and greater use of pesticides. Tests show that GE crops can harm these creatures. In a Cornell University study released in 1999, nearly half the Monarch butterfly caterpillars fed milkweek plants dusted with genetically engineered Bt corn pollen died, while all of those exposed to normal corn pollen survived. When beneficial lacewings ate corn borers raised on Bt corn, their mortality rate more than doubled. Ladybugs fed aphids raised on Bt potatoes had shorter lifespans.

Poisoning the soil Bt toxin is also exuded from corn plant roots into the soil, where it can remain indefinitely, New York Univeristy scientists reported in 1999. This could harm the microorganisms that keep soil fertile. Without fertile soil, we increasingly rely on artificial fertilizers that pollute our water and air.

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