|
May 1, 2001 -- Cropchoice
News
That was the gist of declarations by two
organic agriculture organizations to describe the effect of
transgenic crop production on organic farming. As is the case
with conventional soy, corn, and canola, organic
crops have tested positive for the presence of foreign genetic
material because of cross-pollination, seed stock
contamination. The inability to segregate transgenic crops
from their organic and conventional counterparts during harvest,
handling, transport and milling is also responsible for contamination.
The Organic Federation of Australia declared
that contamination from transgenic crops in the United States
has spread to such a degree that it cannot verify the purity
of imported organic ingredients.
Farm Verified Organic seconded that assertion.
A press release from the North Dakota certification agency
stated: "the GM pollution
of American commodities is now so pervasive, we believe it
is not possible for farmers in North America to source seed
free from it."
"The widespread adoption of GM crops
in the U.S. makes it difficult to ensure that grain is not
being contaminated with genetically modified organisms (GMOs)
as it is handled and transported from the field to the end
customer. Industry insiders even question whether the foundation
(parent) seed for non-GM varieties can meet a 1% purity level,"
according to the November 2000 edition of Farmindustrynews.com.
David Gould, a member of the certification
committee of Farm Verified Organic, discussed the contamination
situation with Cropchoice
in February.
"Our investigations thus far from
the 2000 harvest lead us to believe that virtually all
of the seed corn in the United states is contaminated with
at least a trace of genetically engineered material,
and often more," Gould said. "Even the organic lots
are showing traces of biotech varieties."
He pointed out the now familiar StarLink
corn fiasco. Iowa farmers planted 1 percent of their crop
with StarLink. By harvest time, 50 percent registered positive
for the genetically engineered variety.
Since his preferred option of a ban on
transgenic crops probably won't happen soon, Gould favors
establishment of a maximum tolerance level for genetically
modified organisms in organic crops. Currently, there is no
universal standard. In the case of corn, he said that if organic
certifiers insisted on 0 percent contamination, "we shouldn't
certify any corn."
At the same time, he worries that propagating
transgenic crops year after year will lead to the presence
of more and more foreign genes in organic and conventional
varieties. This in turn, would mean raising the tolerance
levels. Whether the organic stamp of approval would then become
something of a joke is open to debate.
But one should remember that organic
standards have to do with production, not purity, said Annie
Kirschenmann, of Farm Verified Organic.
This means that testing for any kind of residue, be it from
pesticide or genetic drift, is not part of determining whether
to certify a farm as organic.
Cropchoice.com
May 1, 2001
| 