Green Options » genetically-engineered

Wheatless Wednesday: 6 Reasons to Reject Monsanto’s Roundup-Ready Wheat

Gina Munsey — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 22:57:45 +0000

Last month, Canada, the United States, and Australia announced unprecedented plans to join forces and commercialize genetically-engineered wheat, saying that biotechnology was crucial to the future of the wheat industry. The National Farmers Union of Canada, however, immediately refuted the tri-country claim, pointing out “the overwhelming majority of farmers in Canada are still opposed to the introduction of genetically-modified wheat.”

On June 1, fifteen organizations across Canada, the United States and Australia publicly confirmed that opposition with the release of “A Definitive Global Rejection of Genetically Engineered Wheat“, a powerful document speaking out against biotech wheat.

But the battle against GM wheat is not a simple one, nor is it restrained to select countries.

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Food Policy Friday: Call to Action Against Bayer’s Glufosinate-Resistant LL62 Rice

Gina Munsey — Fri, 29 May 2009 17:17:10 +0000

The chemical giant Bayer — the same Bayer which brought you aspirin, heroin and mustard gas, and currently manufactures a wide variety of pesticides, herbicides, polyurethanes and other questionable chemicals — has wrapped their toxic fingers around our rice.

This is nothing new. The company’s glufosinate-resistant LL62 genetically modified rice isn’t commercially grown, but that doesn’t mean that it hasn’t already entered the global food supply.

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Food Policy Friday: United States, Australia, and Canada Announce Joint Efforts to Develop Genetically Modified Wheat

Gina Munsey — Fri, 15 May 2009 20:27:19 +0000

We’ve talked a lot about genetically modified crops here at Eat. Drink. Better — the ongoing battle in the EU over Monsanto’s MON-810 maize, Obama’s refusal to halt genetic engineering in the US sugar-beet industry, and the politics behind it all.

But one frankenfood we haven’t discussed is wheat. Why? Well, mainly because it doesn’t exist. There simply aren’t any commercially-available strains of genetically modified wheat available.

The United States, Canada, and Australia want to change that. In an unprecedented joint statement released yesterday, top wheat organizations from the three countries announced that they intend to “work toward the goal of synchronized commercialization of biotech traits in our wheat crops…we believe it is in all of our best interests to introduce biotech wheat varieties in a coordinated fashion.”

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Leading Hospital System Takes Stand Against Animal Cloning and GE Ingredients

Amy Bell — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 19:34:08 +0000

Catholic Healthcare West (CHW) is a San Francisco, CA based system of 41 hospitals and medical centers in California, Nevada, and Arizona.

This national leading Catholic hospital system is now leading the nation in more ways than one.

CHW has made the decision to use food suppliers who have agreed to seek out alternatives to foods made with genetically engineered (GE) ingredients or cloned animals.

Included in CHW’s new food policy is GE sugar beets, which just recently have been introduced into the nation’s food supply, as well as meat and dairy products from cloned animals, which the FDA has decided to allow.

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Is that a Worm in Your School Lunch? Oh, No, It’s Just a Porkchop.

Beth Bader — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 03:44:36 +0000

Goats with spider genes. Pigs with worm genes. Genetically-engineered animals cross the lines of phyla and even kingdom with plants containing animal genes and vice versa. It’s no longer a question of can we do that. It’s crossed over the line of should we do that. And if we do, should we sell it for food? Without a label?

If it had a label, would you eat it? If it’s considered safe, then, why wouldn’t they label it? We have a right to know what kind of meat(s) we are eating, after all.

The answer for most of is no, we won’t eat it, which is why there likely won’t be a label required, according to the new FDA plan, unless the game of gene mix-n-match alters the nutritional content of the food. The FDA has a similar no label approach for cloned meats that are designated for human consumption.

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