The official Greenpeace position on GE foods is to whole-heartedly “oppose” them. Arabian Business spoke to Jeremy Tager, GE campaigner who gave us 10 reasons against the use of genetically modified foodstuffs.
1.There is increasing evidence that they may be dangerous to both human health and the environment and they are unnecessary. There is also increasing evidence that the basic assumption behind genetic engineering – inserting a novel gene construct into a species – is neither predictable nor precise.
2.Surveys have consistently shown a distrust of GE technology. Supporters of GE claim this is just public ignorance, but the largest survey of consumer attitudes ever undertaken – in the UK several years ago – showed clearly that the more people knew about GE the less they trusted and the less they wanted it in their food.
3.GE foods have not been tested for human safety. The regulators in countries that support GE always rely on data and testing done by the company seeking approval – a notoriously unreliable source of unbiased information. Of the 10 studies found investigating human health impacts of GE, five were funded by the industry and showed no impacts on lab animals. On the other hand, all five independent studies showed various impacts on the animals tested.
4.The level of awareness of genetic engineering in the Middle East is certainly not as high as it is in Europe, but the Middle East has a rich food history and I suspect, once the public becomes more aware of GE, they will want it less.
5.As far as imports from the US go, if consumers don’t want to eat GE they should avoid products from the US containing corn, soybean and particularly long grain rice.
6.Greenpeace would prefer to see no GE on the market. It isn’t needed. It doesn’t help anyone except the GE companies and is a high risk experiment with the public and the environment. Food from the US, however, is likely to contain GE for some time. The United States cannot reverse in a short period its devotion to GE foods politically or agriculturally. The UAE doesn’t have such a stake in GE as the US, and as the UAE becomes an increasingly cosmopolitan and international city it will find more and more demand for GE-free foods.
7.The more stringent the labeling laws (the EU laws are the toughest), the more GE foods will disappear from shelves because they will not be purchased as frequently as non-GE. Non-GE foods are available. They are not more expensive or more difficult to find. The vast majority of food grown worldwide is still GE-free. Some products, particularly processed foods containing soy and corn, are the most common GE foods. The more consumers demand or want GE-free, the more GE-free becomes available.
8.There is a kind of madness to the experimentation on animals by genetic engineers. There was a huge study reported on in the journal Nature, which concluded that we actually know very little about how genes work. They are incredibly complex and they interact with each other and the environment in ways we don’t even begin to understand and yet the entire GE industry is built on the assumption that they can control the way genes operate. They know this is wrong and yet they are hurtling down a path that leads quite clearly to eugenics and experimentation on humans.
9.People are turning to organic food not just because of genetic engineering but because industrial food production methods produces poor food. In many places including the US, the organic industry is the fastest growing sector of the food industry. Organic foods represent a less toxic, less destructive, tastier and healthier source of food. Industrial farming methods frequently destroy the nutritional qualities of food.
10.I think there is overwhelming evidence that the GE industry is determined to impose GE foods on the world because it will allow them to further control the food supply. In the last decade we have seen a massive increase in monopolisation of the food chain – from seeds to storage to processing to retail. Within the last few years, for example, Monsanto has become the largest seed company on earth. They now own the seeds (which are patented) and the chemicals to spray on the crops (and if it is a GE crop that is resistant to herbicides – then the chemical is one you must spray on the crop).
The industry reminds me of the tobacco industry; they claim safety but they are surely aware of the lack of data they have to declare GE foods safe. They haven’t done the work that would allow them to know that their GE foods are safe. This, in the view of Greenpeace, is incredibly reckless and consumers are far better staying away from such engineered foods.
Greenpeace is also known for campaigning against global warming and nuclear power.
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