It is a tale out of science fiction. The leader of an African nation refuses donated food for three million starving people in his country. Why? Because the food has been genetically modified. This occurred in Zambia last year and served to heighten the controversy over the production and consumption of what are popularly known as ‘biotech crops.’

The controversy over determining what we put in our mouths has been around since the first biotech crops were developed, but lately, things are heating up. Last month, U.S. agricultural groups lashed out at a European Union vote on proposed new rules for the labeling and tracing of genetically modified crops and foods. The EU has had a four-year moratorium on US biotech imports. At the same time, the United Nations adopted new standards providing detailed procedures for determining if biotech foods are safe.

Biotech crops offer one solution to food shortages worldwide at a time when increasingly less land is dedicated to food production and population growth continues. A crop is considered “biotech” when a gene from an unrelated species is introduced to the original plant group for the purpose of making the harvest yield more productive, healthier or disease resistant.

There is growing resistance to biotech crops in the United States although most Americans are unaware that they have been consuming genetically modified foods since the mid-1990’s. Sixty to 70 percent of all processed food in the U.S. now contain genetically modified ingredients including the greater majority of soy and corn raised in this country. U.S. farmers like biotech crops because they require fewer chemicals for killing insects and weeds – in fact, they are now so common that they are mixed in silos with non-biotech crops before being processed.

Biotech foods have not been around long enough to study their long-term impact on the consumer. There is no conclusive evidence that they pose a risk to human health, or that they will lead to an ecological disaster as critics have warned. In fact, the World Health Organization and the American Medical Association have concluded, through their own assessments, that food grown with the aid of biotechnology is safe to eat. And in 2002, the World Food Organization, the United Nations body responsible for distributing donated commodities to hungry populations stated, “The WFP position on biotech foods remains the same as for other donated foods.”

Genetically modified crops have too much potential for feeding the planet to simply halt production.

Critics say that not enough is known about biotech crops— that it is irresponsible to produce and consume them on a massive scale until more extensive testing has been carried out. Many of these same critics have decried the heavy use of pesticides and herbicides for years as contaminating both food and water, but now lobby against genetically modified foods, which are a viable solution to pesticides.

Biotech industry sources promote their products by claiming that the technology thus far has produced higher yields, less crop loss, and longer shelf life. Again, there has not been sufficient independent testing to verify this, although Monsanto, one of the biotech industry leaders, states on its website that the use of its Bt cotton product in 2000 reduced insecticides sprayed on cotton crops by 14.6 million fewer pounds.

A clear indication that the development of biotech crops is not simply a corporate grab for money is that developing countries are conducting important research on their own to benefit their populations. Cuba obtained a U.S. patent five years ago to develop a sugar cane that yields fructose instead of the more fattening sucrose; the Mexican government has just signed an agreement with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to create a bilateral working group for cooperation in biotechnology; the Chinese government has the largest biotechnology industry outside of North America, and has invested heavily in research since the 1980’s as a means of ensuring future food security for 1.3 billion people.

Genetically modified crops have too much potential for feeding the planet to simply halt production. Nevertheless, responsible governments need to ensure greater accountability of the biotech crop industry with rigorous oversight and mandatory labeling for all genetically modified foods. The challenge is to ensure the safety of the public while making new technologies available to farmers worldwide at a reasonable price. Greater involvement in the research, regulation and production of biotech crops by governments in cooperation with international bodies, universities and consumers will assure distrustful countries like Zambia of the safety of biotech crops while guarding against corporate control of the world’s food supply.




Contributed by Curtis Schaeffer, a free lance writer based in Atlanta, Georgia.

To read another Global Envision article about innovative ways to feed the hungry see Africa Could Grow Enough to Feed Itself; Should It?