Genetically modified food
by Keith Loveridge
The Society has put in a submission to the Gene Technology Regulator opposing the introduction of GM canola in Australia. There is an in-principle approval to Bayer CropScience to grow their genetically altered canola, but the public has a further eight weeks to comment. The canola has been altered to withstand a dousing of Bayer’s herbicide, glufosinate ammonium. Here is a brief summary of some of the effects of this herbicide from a fact sheet published by the Journal of Pesticide Reform 1996:
· Glufosinate is a new broad-spectrum herbicide whose use is expected to increase rapidly in the near future. It kills plants by inhibiting the enzyme glutamine synthetase, an enzyme also found in animals including humans.
· Glufosinate chemically resembles glutamine, a molecule used to transmit nerve impulses in the brain. Neurotoxic symptoms observed in laboratory animals following ingestion, dermal exposure, or inhalation of glufosinate includes convulsions, diarrhea, aggressiveness, and disequilibrium.
· Dogs appear to be the laboratory animal most sensitive to glufosinate. Ingestion of glufosinate for two weeks caused heart and circulatory failure resulting in death.
· Exposure of pregnant laboratory animals to glufosinate caused an increase in premature delivery, miscarriages, the number of dead fetuses, and arrested development of fetal kidneys.
· Concentrations of a glufosinate-containing herbicide of less than one part per million caused mortality of oyster and clam larvae.
· Several species of disease-causing fungi are resistant to glufosinate, while a beneficial fungus that parasitises disease-causing fungi is very susceptible to glufosinate. This means that the use of glufosinate can have “important microbiological consequences.”And that’s even before the discussion on the safety of GM crops to human health and the environmental and economic consequences of letting this loose in Australia. Why is a certain section of the agricultural industry so hell bent on jeopardising the security of our agricultural future? The Victorian Government has placed a 12-month moratorium on the release of GM crops in line with moratoriums introduced by other States. The Victorian Farmers Federation hierarchy insists there is widespread acceptance by farmers for the introduction of GM crops. However, a read of the Weekly Times letters column tells a very different story. There is widespread resistance from the grass roots farming community against this insidious form of corporate governance and we congratulate the Victorian Government for standing up to these multinational chemical giants. Let them plant their transgenic crops in their own back yard and keep out of ours.
This is what a group of almost 600 scientists from 72 different countries, including Dr. David Suzuki, Dr. David Bellamy, Dr. Vandana Shiva and Dr. David Ehrenfeld, had to say about GM crops:
“GM crops offer no benefits to farmers or consumers. Instead, many problems have been identified, including yield drag, increased herbicide use, erratic performance, and poor economic returns to farmers. GM crops also intensify corporate monopoly on food, which is driving family farmers to destitution, and preventing the essential shift to sustainable agriculture that can guarantee food security and health around the world.
The hazards of GMOs to biodiversity and human and animal health are now acknowledged by sources within the UK and US Governments. Particularly serious consequences are associated with the potential for horizontal gene transfer. These include the spread of antibiotic resistance marker genes that would render infectious diseases untreatable, the generation of new viruses and bacteria that cause diseases, and harmful mutations, which may lead to cancer.”
I think I would prefer to listen to eminent scientists, than to spin-doctors employed by chemical companies.
Please email me if you would like a full copy of our submission.
