-Caveat Lector-
{{I knew there was a BIG problem with this some time back when
I tried to grow a small amount of organic food surrounded by
non-organic. One good breeze and it is all non-organic for
the pollen will be carried on the wind and bees and everything
else. The burden was placed on the organic farmer to keep his
product 'unpolluted' instead of the one whose product was
doing the contaminating. Even growing all organic food in an
enclosed greenhouse would not keep this out as it is
microscopic. The food, if processed, is often processed in
the same -places as the GM foods and who can say how well thy
are kept separate. What is truly frightening is that some
farms are testing GM seeds and may have rows of many different
varieties, all GM so that one has no way, other than plant
DNA, etc., of even knowing with which the organic crop is
contaminated.
I tried putting the tassels of corn in paper bags once as this
was once thought to prevent it but the end product was still
suspect. And lots of fungus from lack of adequate
ventilation,etc. Popcorn. Also tried with some roses in
reverse. So it is now all contaminated and "Organic" now only
refers to the methods of pest control and herbicides not used,
not the actual product. And if the wind is blowing when the
neighboring crop is being dusted or sprayed with who knows
what, especially if aircraft is used, well, you get the
picture. Also note our old friend David Gould quoted here.
~Amelia~}}
May 23, 2001
All Organic Seeds Now Appear to Be Contaminated With
Genetically Modified Crops
May 1, 2001 -- Cropchoice News
That was the gist of declarations by two organic agriculture
organizations to describe the effect of transgenic crop
production on organic farming. As is the case with
conventional soy, corn, and canola, organic crops have tested
positive for the presence of foreign genetic material because
of cross-pollination, seed stock contamination. The inability
to segregate transgenic crops from their organic and
conventional counterparts during harvest, handling, transport
and milling is also responsible for contamination.
The Organic Federation of Australia declared that
contamination from transgenic crops in the United States has
spread to such a degree that it cannot verify the purity of
imported organic ingredients.
Farm Verified Organic seconded that assertion. A press release
from the North Dakota certification agency stated: "the GM
pollution of American commodities is now so pervasive, we
believe it is not possible for farmers in North America to
source seed free from it."
"The widespread adoption of GM crops in the U.S. makes it
difficult to ensure that grain is not being contaminated with
genetically modified organisms (GMOs) as it is handled and
transported from the field to the end customer. Industry
insiders even question whether the foundation (parent) seed
for non-GM varieties can meet a 1% purity level," according to
the November 2000 edition of Farmindustrynews.com.
David Gould, a member of the certification committee of Farm
Verified Organic, discussed the contamination situation with
Cropchoice in February.
"Our investigations thus far from the 2000 harvest lead us to
believe that virtually all of the seed corn in the United
states is contaminated with at least a trace of genetically
engineered material, and often more," Gould said. "Even the
organic lots are showing traces of biotech varieties."
He pointed out the now familiar StarLink corn fiasco. Iowa
farmers planted 1 percent of their crop with StarLink. By
harvest time, 50 percent registered positive for the
genetically engineered variety.
Since his preferred option of a ban on transgenic crops
probably won't happen soon, Gould favors establishment of a
maximum tolerance level for genetically modified organisms in
organic crops. Currently, there is no universal standard. In
the case of corn, he said that if organic certifiers insisted
on 0 percent contamination, "we shouldn't certify any corn."
At the same time, he worries that propagating transgenic crops
year after year will lead to the presence of more and more
foreign genes in organic and conventional varieties. This in
turn, would mean raising the tolerance levels. Whether the
organic stamp of approval would then become something of a
joke is open to debate.
But one should remember that organic standards have to do with
production, not purity, said Annie Kirschenmann, of Farm
Verified Organic. This means that testing for any kind of
residue, be it from pesticide or genetic drift, is not part of
determining whether to certify a farm as organic.
Cropchoice.com May 1, 2001
--------------------------------------------------------------
------------------
Well here we have it, the first suggestion that this is the
beginning of the end for pure food crops. It appears that
nearly all the organic seeds have some level of contamination
with genetically modified crops.
Let me repeat one of the above statements:
Farm Verified Organic seconded that assertion. A press release
from the North Dakota certification agency stated: "the GM
pollution of American commodities is now so pervasive, we
believe it is not possible for farmers in North America to
source seed free from it."
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