It is said that if you repeat a thing often enough people will believe in its veracity. There are three stances the biotech industry continues to inculcate, only one of which could be true, except that it isn’t. The industry’s main argument concerns the safety of GE foods. The food itself may actually prove, over time, to be innocuous and comparable to non-GE food, but there’s an elephant in the room. Whenever anyone, including executives, politicians or scientists, purport the safety of genetically altered foods, they omit the dangers of pesticides used extensively on these crops. A second position used by industry to support the expansion of GMO crops is that their farming methods are essential to feeding a growing global population. And coming round at the end, the industry keeps insisting, even in the face of cold, hard fact, that fewer pesticides are needed when growing GE foods.
In mid March of this year, the World Health Organization (WHO) issued a proclamation in the Lancet Oncology that glyphosate, Monsanto’s chief weed-killing chemical, is “probably carcinogenic to humans.” This is not definitive, of course, but gains more weight when one considers that this listing is “the second highest classification for substances that could cause cancer – just below ‘known carcinogen.'” This information was also published on the WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) website. Monsanto fired back immediately with a statement from Philip Miller, Monsanto’s Vice President of Global Regulatory Affairs. Miller stated that “we don’t know how IARC could reach a conclusion that is such a dramatic departure from the conclusion reached by all regulatory agencies around the globe.” And Mr. Miller is correct. The EPA and the FDA continue to support the idea that glyphosate is safe, even while admitting that it “can cause kidney damage in humans, as well as inhibit normal reproduction, promote lung congestion and increase people’s breathing rates.” The IARC report, however, is leading the EPA to “consider” WHO’s findings. Another consideration, especially given Mr. Miller’s rather ominous title, is that agencies around the world have declared glyphosate to be safe because they have been infiltrated by industry executives. Jeffry M. Smith, researcher for the Institute for Responsible Technology, points out that “Monsanto’s takeover essentially of the FDA has been replicated around the world.” He goes on to say that “I’ve been in 37 countries and I’ve seen how they ‘capture’ regulators, ministries, departments, etc., and once that happens they discredit and dismiss any adverse findings about GMOs.” More research will undoubtedly be conducted on the safety of glyphosate, but given that it is being detected in the air, the water, in our food and in our bodies (urine samples, blood samples and breast milk) it’s only reasonable to conclude that more study must be done to determine the health risks of GMO crops.
Second, much is being made over the estimated statistic that by 2050 the population on Earth will reach 9 billion people. The agribusiness companies repeatedly state, along with others they have convinced, such as Bill Gates, that GE crops are the only solution in feeding the world. A new report issued by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) finally puts to rest that assumption. Feeding the World Without GMOs effectively argues that GE crops “have not substantially improved global food security and have instead increased the use of toxic herbicides and led to herbicide-resistant superweeds.” The report also correctly points out that the vast majority of GE crops consist of soy and corn (80% of global land devoted to GE crops) and are not used to feed people, but rather are grown to serve the biofuel industry and as animal feed. The report also demonstrates ways to provide enough food to feed a growing global population with four approaches: smarter use of fertilizers, a shift in biofuels policy, a concentrated effort to reduce food waste and a shift away from a meat dominated diet.
And finally, the blatant lie put forth consistently by Monsanto et al., that GE crops require fewer pesticides belies the facts. As should be common knowledge at this point, nearly all of acreage devoted to GE crops is engineered by chemical companies to tolerate extensive glyphosate applications. As could be predicted, such use has created superweeds and superbugs that have become resistant to the toxin, requiring greater volumes of more toxic pesticides. Mark Bittman, a food journalist for the New York Times, is one of few who dare to point out the obvious, that it may not in fact be proven that GE foods are deleterious to our health in and of themselves, but the increasing amount of toxic chemicals required to grow this food is, as he says, “deeply problematic.” A more pointed and detailed study was conducted by Ramon J. Seidler, Ph.D. He debunks media reports concerning decreased pesticide use since 2010.
That Monsanto and other biotech companies would like all the above information kept from the public is obvious because of profits reaped by the sale of glyphosate. In 2014, as related in their annual report, that division consisted by about a third of the company’s $15.8 billion in total sales. That showed a 13% increase from the previous year. These preliminary and cautious studies emerging across the globe increasingly demonstrate that GE crops are linked indelibly with pesticide use and are destroying a sustainable global food supply.
Recipe of the Week
Chinook salmon is readily available for much of the year in the Pacific Northwest. And it can be relatively cheap if one buys directly from the fishermen. This recipe is easy and delicious.
Salmon Poached in Red Wine
1 lb. wild salmon filet
1 cup red wine
2 tbls. butter
salt to taste
Pour the wine into a cast iron pan just big enough to hold the filet. Place the salmon in the pan and turn the heat to high. After it reaches a boil, turn the heat to low, cover the pan and gently simmer for about 15 minutes. Remove the filet and place in a warm oven. Add the butter to the wine with a little salt and cook down to about 4 tbls. Pour over the fish and serve. I simply made a green salad to accompany the fish, but mashed potatoes with goat cheese would be excellent.