And while she has 'some legitimate concerns' about the safety of crops created in a laboratory, that's not the reason the Corte Madera resident has volunteered to collect signatures for a California ballot measure that would require foods containing genetically-modified organisms to carry a special label.
'People want to know what's in their food,' Thomas said. 'This ballot measure isn't designed to put anyone out of business. It's just something to give shoppers another piece of information about their food products, in the same way that companies are required to disclose calories and fat content. It helps people select what they want to purchase.'
Thomas is one of several volunteers who helped lead a 2004 effort to ban the growing of genetically modified crops in Marin County. That ballot measure, Measure B, passed with about 62 percent of the vote, and Thomas hopes many of those who took part in the 2004 campaign will join in the current call for statewide labeling.
'We need about 550,000 valid signatures statewide — but to get there, we know we'll really need to collect a little more than 800,000 signatures,' said Thomas, who has so far mustered a group of about 100 volunteers. Her group will be collecting signatures between Feb. 18 and April 22, with the goal of placing the California Right to Know Genetically Engineered Food Act on the November 2012 ballot.
Genetically modified foods are typically created through the process of transgenesis — taking a gene from one organism and implanting it in another, in order to create a new life form with desirable traits, such as resistance to pesticide or a longer shelf life. Supporters of modified organisms note that they often require fewer pesticides than conventional crops, and that opponents can point to few scientific studies that support their concerns.
In addition, food manufacturers note that the federal Food and Drug Administration has not restricted the sale of products made from genetically-engineered corn, soybeans, tomatoes and other crops, and that they are generally considered to be safe for human and animal consumption.
'Currently, labeling food products that contain GM ingredients is not prohibited, and foods labeled non-GM are readily available for consumers who prefer such products,' said Tom Helscher, a spokesman for Monsanto, the agricultural biotechnology company whose subsidiary, Calgene, developed the first genetically modified crop, a tomato. 'The FDA has determined that where genetically modified crops don't differ in composition, nutrition or safety from non-GM crops, products containing them are not required to be labeled.'
Those with concerns about genetically modified foods, however, argue that the jury is still out on whether products made from those foods have been adequately tested by the FDA.
'Some of those products have been shown to cause allergic reactions in some people. But unfortunately, no one is really looking into it,' said Mark Squire, co-owner of Good Earth Foods in Fairfax, which has thrown its support behind the labeling movement. 'GMOs should be prohibited from appearing in food products until there has been rigorous, thorough research into their long-term health effects.'
Albert Straus, whose Straus Creamery has been a pioneer of the organic movement in Marin County, was shocked years ago to discover that the grain he feeds his cattle — billed as organic — included genetically modified crops. Today, he carefully tests his feed grains for markers of genetic engineering, and he's pushed for labeling of modified foods, both at the state and national level.
'Right now, 70 to 80 percent of the food people eat has some form of GMO contamination,' Straus said. 'I think customers want to know what is in their food. And I think they have that right.' ------------------- "
http://www.marinij.com/marinnews/ci_19838810
tags:
nutrigenomics human nutrition food safety food wars hunger malnutrition poverty genetics nanotechnology robotics kurzweil monsanto dupont pioneer corn genetically modified usda fda eggs beef poultry pork turkey fish shellfish fruits vegetables food borne illness wheat rice oats barley sorghum soybeans alfalfa protein vitamins minerals amino acids fats unidentified growth factors fatty acids genetic engineering climate change food security agribusiness fresh produce desertification nanoliposomes solid lipid nanoparticles nanoemulsions
No comments:
Post a Comment