[imc-maritimes] GMO debate receiving widespread coverage

[trailerzen at hushmail.com]

Hi all,

This just came up on an american RRS newsfeed, the source is CP and 
it was published on the 940 News website.

http://news940.dserv.ca/news.php?cat=9&id=n012317A

Hearings spark interest in possible P.E.I. ban on genetically 
modified crops
at 15:23 on January 23, 2005, EST.

CHARLOTTETOWN (CP) - Hearings on whether Prince Edward Island 
should ban the use of genetically modified organisms in its 
agriculture industry has international experts on both sides of the 
debate digging in for a fight.

Requests to participate are coming in from as far away as 
California, mainly from the well-organized anti-GMO lobby, which 
regards genetically engineered food and crops as "Frankenfood."

Nadege Adam, a spokeswoman for the Council of Canadians, says the 
public hearings next month could make the island an international 
trendsetter.

She says if the island goes ahead with a GMO ban, it will put the 
province ahead of the pack when it comes to responding to public 
concerns about genetically altered foods.

"What we have here is a very unpopular product," she says.

"Around the world, more and more countries are either closing their 
doors altogether to GMO foods, or they are putting in strict 
restrictions. So P.E.I., because it is an island, would have the 
advantage of being able to provide for this fast-growing niche 
market."

But the provincial legislature's agriculture committee is taking a 
cautious approach, stressing that the hearings are meant only to 
provide insight into the science of genetic engineering.

The P.E.I. Federation of Agriculture plans to make a presentation 
urging careful consideration of all the facts in the GMO debate.

"It's a controversial issue, and everyone has an opinion," says 
Mike Nabuurs, executive director of the federation.

"But we need to make sure that any decisions that affect farmers 
are based on truth and science. . . . Right now, GMOs are legal 
crops in Canada, approved by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency."

Nabuurs says it has yet to be proven that there is a market for non-
GMO products.

He says most island crops are exported to the United States, where 
there are not the same anti-GMO restrictions as in Europe and some 
parts of Asia.

"If the P.E.I. government decides it want to seriously consider a 
GMO ban, it had better make darn good and sure those markets really 
do exist for the non-GMO products, enough to sustain producers who 
are currently making a living on GMO products."

Nabuurs says about 60 per cent of last year's soybean crop on the 
Island was genetically altered, as well as some corn and canola 
crops.

However, farmers have already agreed not to grow GMO potatoes, the 
Island's most important crop.

Processing giants such as McCain Foods and Cavendish Farms have 
said engineered spuds are too hot to handle, given the consumer 
backlash in some parts of the world.

Genetically modified foods have been touted as either cutting-edge 
technology or genetic pollution.

They are the result of gene-splicing technology that inserts part 
of the gene strand of one life form, such as bacteria or an animal, 
into another, such as corn, soybeans or canola.

GMO crops have been permitted by Health Canada since 1995.

Many European countries and consumers are worried about the 
possible health and environmental effects of genetically altered 
crops and foods.

There are strict GMO labelling requirements in Europe.

It's estimated that about 60 per cent of processed foods in North 
America contain some genetic modifications.



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