Culture

The Real Story behind Genetically Modified Foods

Sarah Jackson
Culture Editor

hat is in the food that we eat?

Where does it come frome Why
did over two million people worldwide
take to the streets in May of this year
to march against Monsanto? These
are just a few of the questions people
around the globe seem to be asking
themselves and one another.

It is not only activists who are asking
these questions either; these persistent
concerns have reverberated around
the world, impacting everyone, often
without them even knowing, from small-
scale farmers, to government officials.
According to the Global Research
website, Hungarian officials announced
last May that they had burned over
1000 acres of maize after discovering
that the crops had come into contact
with genetically modified (GM) seeds.
In 2012, the Peruvian Times reported

a ten-year ban on GM foods went
into effect in Peru, the first of its kind in
South America.

So what are GM foods? Why

are so many people so concerned
about them? According to Serena
Black, a Master's student in the
Natural Resources and Environmental
Science program at UNBC, we use
GMOs because they have certain
advantages, such as pesticide
resistance, and that allows us to have
the large-scale mono-crop agriculture
you see in most farm photos. Serena,
who is well-known for her role as the
Market Manager of the University
Farmer's Market (UFM), is doing

a cultivar study on barley for her
master's project, which involves looking
at the water-resistance of hybrid and
heritage plants.

Serena took the time to define a

few key terms that can easily be
contused in the literature and media
surrounding our current food systems.
"GMO stands for genetically moditied
organism, meaning you input a segment
of DNA into the crops; DNA that
wasn't there before, and produces
various traits in the plant such as
pesticide resistance.”

However, the plants she is looking
at in her study are not GM plants;
they are in a different category
altogether. "Hybrid plants, at least
modern hybrids, take about eight
years to select for grain. This is done
by choosing different characteristics

that you're breeding forth, choosing
parent plants with characteristics
that you want," Serena explained. In
other words, hybrid plants are bred
the way people have been breeding
animals for years, choosing for certain
traits, such as height, colour, yield, or
behavioural attributes.

She adds that, "people have been
developing hybrids for years to
increase yields.” They do this for
different reasons, including fo increase
disease resistance and quality.
Heritage grains have not gone
through that process but they have
been selected throughout history by
choosing the healthiest looking seeds
by hand.” So if GM foods enable us
to grow a lot of food without using
pesticides, what is the problem?
According to Serena, who has spent a
lot of time with local farmers through
her work at the UFM, people have
different issues with GM foods. She
says that the people she has spoken
to "are concerned about health
implications, such as how much of the
pesticide remains on the crops after
they are grown." As well, she says that
people have concerns about the costs
of buying GM seeds, the legal aspect
of a company owning DNA, and the
fact that "we haven't used them long
enough to understand any negative
health implications.”

"Almost all corn is genetically modified,
and we have been consuming it for

a long time without anyone knowing
whether they should be concerned,”
she said, adding that there are a

lot of different perspectives on the
issue. In the local Omineca region,
which includes Prince George, people
see ..canola as the main GM issue.
Everyone grows a lot of hybrids; not
GMOs. But people are wondering
whether the canola seeds will

impact other crops. Meanwhile, the
information is really unclear.”

Dr. Art Fredeen, a professor

of Ecosystem Science and
Management on campus, took the
time to outline his understanding of
GM foods. He says that one main
problem he sees with growing GM
foods is that it disrupts agricultural
patterns that, in some cases, have
remained unchanged for thousands
of years. Monsanto is the number
one GM-producing corporation,

and their refusal to allow farmers to
retain any of their seed for the next
season builds dependence on the
corporation and changes the
culture of agriculture.

Dr. Fredeen explains
that GMO companies
have justified
their GMOs to
feed an ever
growing human
population.
However,

GM crops are
expensive, and
clearly not feeding
those who need it
most. With respect to
plant, pest, and weed
control, many studies

now suggest that
herbicide resistant
GMOs, for example,
are allowing for
improvements in

weed control
initially, but only
until pests or plant
weeds evolve

and become

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manufacturers.

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Dr. Fredeen 7m

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