GM “fishy” canola to feed farmed salmon is misleadingly claimed as sustainable
The Norwegian Food Safety Authority has approved a genetically modified canola oil for use in feed for farmed salmon. The canola was genetically engineered to contain healthy omega-3 long chain fatty acids. This is being touted as an environmental benefit, since farmed salmon are normally fed on fish oil from increasingly depleted wild fish stocks to boost their omega-3 levels. But it is engineered to be grown with an EU-banned herbicide and contains oils that caused deformities in butterflies.
After years of hype, researchers temper expectations for GM American chestnut tree, reveal unexpected problems
During a recent webinar called “Chestnut Chat”, organised by the American Chestnut Foundation (TACF), GM chestnut researchers walked back earlier promises and projections for restoration of the American Chestnut through the use of genetic engineering and admitted the “Darling 58” (D58) GM American chestnut tree is not the silver bullet once promised. The tree grows more slowly and shorter than once thought, blight tolerance is not reliable, and field trials are limited in their ability to reflect real life conditions. In light of these revelations, the Campaign to STOP GE Trees is calling for an immediate rejection by the USDA of the pending petition to deregulate the D58 GM American chestnut tree. More on this story here.
The US push for GMO corn is out to lunch
Mexico has been fighting the US in a trade dispute over GMO corn ever since Mexico’s Decree, back in February 2022, banned GMO corn for human consumption – limited to corn in tortillas or masa (dough). This Decree, writes law professor Ernesto Hernández-López, allows Mexico to secure supplies of an important daily staple and limits cancer risks from glyphosate. American positions appear oblivious to this. In August, the US invoked a panel under NAFTA 2.0 (the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement or USMCA). Showing its hand, the US argues about the impact of the GMO ban on Mexico’s supplies of animal feed. But this is nonsense because the current ban does not apply to animal feed.
GMO corn tribunal raises concerns with first decisions
Three panelists have been empowered to settle the ongoing trade dispute between the US and Mexico— one each from Switzerland, Mexico and the US. The applications of the National Farmers Union of Canada and Farm Action of the US to submit comments have been refused. Those groups could have offered a useful farmers’ voice, arguing that Mexico’s GM corn restrictions represent a market opportunity, not a loss, for US and Canadian farmers, who could earn 20 percent higher prices for their exports by switching to non-GM corn. More worryingly, in its response inviting Friends of the Earth (FOE) to submit comments on the science justifying Mexico’s concerns about the safety of GM corn in its tortillas, the panel stipulated that such comments must “exclude any discussion of ‘glyphosate-based herbicides and Bt endotoxins', which is a factual issue not before this Panel, and focusing solely on the ‘human health and environmental impacts of the GM white corn.’” Timothy A. Wise commented, “Exclude what? Those *are* the main human health concerns.” Most GM white corn from the US — which is not the familiar sweetcorn — has both glyphosate-tolerant and Bt traits, so most GM corn coming into Mexico may present risks from both Bt and glyphosate residues. Indeed, both have been found in tortillas and other corn-based consumer products in Mexico.
Canada and US governments censor Canadian NGOs in trade dispute over Mexico’s GM corn ban
At the request of the US and Canadian governments, a trade dispute panel has rescinded an invitation to Canadian non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to submit official comments in the dispute under the Canada-US-Mexico Trade Agreement (CUSMA) over Mexico’s phase-out of genetically engineered (genetically modified or GM) corn. “We’re extremely concerned that the US government requested we be blocked from commenting but even more concerned that the Canadian government wrote to support this silencing,” said Lucy Sharratt, Coordinator of the Canadian Biotechnology Action Network, one of the two organisations in Canada that had been granted leave to submit written comments. “We’re disappointed that we’re no longer permitted to provide our research and arguments directly to the dispute panel.”
GM Bt cotton is failing in India: Cautions for Africa
GM Bt cotton is failing in India – and African countries should take note of this when considering whether to introduce it themselves, according to a new scientific paper by internationally acknowledged experts. The authors write that the underlying cause for this failure is the high cost of hybrid seed, which forces farmers to plant cotton in low density over a long growing season. This limits yield potential and means that the cotton is afflicted by late-season pests, such as the pink bollworm. Farmers have to buy pesticides, which increases costs, and substandard yields mean that not enough money is recouped from sale of the harvest. The authors caution, “The lessons gained from the ongoing market failure of hybrid Bt cotton in India are of utmost importance to its proposed introduction to Africa where, similar to India, cotton is grown mainly in poor rainfed smallholder family farms.”
India: Supreme Court starts hearing pleas challenging commercial release of GM mustard
India’s Supreme Court said it will hear at length Public Interest Litigations (PILs) challenging the Environment Ministry’s decision to approve the commercial cultivation of GM mustard – India’s first commercial GM food crop. Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for petitioner Aruna Rodrigues, argued that the Technical Expert Committee held that the whole regulatory system concerning GM organisms in India is in complete disarray and needs to be set right, including developing expertise to conduct many tests that are not being conducted, such as long-term toxicity studies. He said there aren't enough labs to conduct these studies and tests.
India: GM mustard yield lower than non-GM
Contrary to the central government’s stand on making India self-sufficient in edible oil production through rapid cultivation of the controversial GM mustard variety, the government’s own study shows that the GM crop has no yield benefits over traditional hybrid varieties. The documents also reveal that the government neither tested the impact of GM mustard on honey bees and other pollinators, nor did it have any expert in its committee to assess the crop’s fallout on health. The central government submitted documents related to field trials of GM mustard seeds — Dhara Mustard Hybrid-11 or DMH-11 — to the Supreme Court. The report shows that the yield of a non-GM hybrid variety is actually marginally higher than the GM one.
UK govt blows £2 billion of taxpayer money on GMO “solutions”
The UK government, which has been failing so badly on health, farming, and the environment, is making a £2 billion bet on “engineering biology” (a term they seem to have invented, which avoids the toxic phrase “genetic engineering”) to solve all the problems. GMWatch predicts that the venture will prove an expensive failure and that nothing of substance will emerge from this leap of faith.
When AI bots do genetic engineering: Text-to-organism platforms, the engineered protein explosion and AI biopiracy
Since the release of “generative AI” program ChatGPT over a year ago, the ability of Artificial Intelligence bots to make art, video, animation, journalism, legal documents has upturned a slew of industries, driving strikes, lawsuits and major public anxiety about Artificial Intelligence (AI). Now the next generation of AI bots are engaging in genetic engineering. Just as you can now type text into an AI to autogenerate pictures or essays, tech companies such as Nvidia, Salesforceare and Gingko Bioworks are working on “text-to-organism” generation of proteins and lifeforms through the convergence of generative AI with synthetic biology. Their first target: unleashing a whole new industry of AI generated bioengineered “Alt-proteins”. Jim Thomas of scanthehorizon.org breaks down some implications in the first of 2 essays on “DNAI: The Artificial Intelligence / Artificial Life convergence. Part 1: When AI bots do genetic engineering”.
RIP John Vidal
We were sad to hear of the death of environmental journalist John Vidal in October 2023. He was an open-eyed critic of GMOs and the power structures that promote and support them, as you can see in his pieces here (“Taking the rap”) and here. An archived version of an obituary in The Times is here. An obituary in the Guardian is here.
ALTERNATIVES TO GMOs
Pre-pesticides, pro-farmer: The rise of agroecology
Rice, the food that feeds the Philippines, is in climate change’s crosshairs. Sea-level rise, hotter temperatures and extreme weather are putting one of the country’s top crops at risk, as drought, floods and encroaching saltwater threaten rice paddies and the livelihoods of those who tend them. In a bid to future-proof this agricultural staple, one effort is borrowing from farming’s past. A farmer-led network and collaboration with scientists and others called MASIPAG has bred dozens of native rice plants, over several decades, to be more resistant to drought, saltwater, pests and diseases. MASIPAG then trained many of the 30,000 farmers in its network how to grow these more resilient varieties using organic cultivation methods. The idea was to help them “relearn the Indigenous and local production processes which were almost erased by the Green Revolution”, says Kathryn Manga, international solidarity officer and project coordinator at the Asian People’s Exchange for Food Sovereignty and Agroecology, an umbrella organisation for groups including MASIPAG.
Year in Review 2023: African agroecology stories worth spreading
The Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA) has published a review of the key agroecology stories from 2023.
Indian farmers demand fair prices amidst surging demand for sustainable cotton
Two decades ago, Damera Yakamma faced tragedy when her husband, a cotton farmer, took his life due to mounting debts. Left to manage their land, Yakamma opted for organic farming, supported by a non-profit. “We benefited from lower costs, better health, and premium prices,” Yakamma said. However, they lost their organic certification in 2015 due to the widespread use of GM Bt cotton. Despite the prevalence of Bt seeds, Yakamma and others continued natural cultivation, avoiding costly pesticides. However, lacking organic certification, they struggle to command premium prices, facing exploitation by traders offering lower than the government-fixed price. To support such farmers, international organisations like Better Cotton Initiative and Fairtrade establish quality standards and licensing models. These initiatives aim to advance sustainable practices, ensure ethical cotton processing, and connect producers with brands seeking greener sourcing.
Record (and non-GM) soy harvest in Europe in 2023
The summer forecasts for Europe’s 2023 non-GMO soy harvest were exceeded after this year’s harvest was brought in. The record high in Europe this year is forecasted to 12.2 million tonnes of soy. The European harvest volume has increased by almost a quarter compared to the previous year. The largest increases were recorded in Ukraine, up 20% to 4.8 million tonnes. The soy harvest in the EU countries also increased by 740,000 tonnes to more than 3 million tonnes. “The majority of the soy used in the EU still comes from non-certified sources overseas, where deforestation might be involved. We see great potential for the expansion of regional, European, GMO-free and sustainably produced soy value chains both in the EU and in European non-EU countries,” said Donau Soja President Matthias Krön.
Sign petition to support seed diversity!
We are at crossroads for the future of our food. The EU is currently negotiating new rules for the seed market. The current rules, introduced in the 1960s, promote seeds that were developed for industrial agriculture. These seeds can be sold together with harmful pesticides and synthetic fertilisers, and grown in monocultures. Now Big Agribusiness is pushing for the rules to go even further, outlawing diversity to make both the seed and our food system even more uniform. What we need is the opposite. We need seed laws that secure our right to healthy, diverse and tasty food, by truly enhancing diversity in farmers’ fields and in gardens, supporting local varieties, and respecting farmer’s rights. Sign the petition to call on EU decision makers to not succumb to industry pressure, but to protect and promote crop diversity as well as farmers’ rights to harvest, use, exchange and sell their own seed! You can sign wherever you are in the world.
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