Date: Sat, 10 Apr 1999 11:16:38 -0700 (PDT)
From: MichaelP <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "unlikely.suspects": ;
Subject: Globalisation threats souvereign decisions on GE-free food options
Date: Sat, 10 Apr 1999 17:11:51 +0100 (BST)
From: GENET <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
-------------------------
Worldwide conformity kills Kiwis' GM-free option
Sunday Star Times, NZ
March 21, 1999
THE genetically modified food controversy is not just about what we eat.
There are far larger dimensions to the debate, such as the lack of
democratic decision-making, the claims of science to supremacy over other
paradigms and the sovereignty of individuals and nations. Labelling is an
issue, but an "after-the-horse-has-bolted" one. Why isn't being GM-free an
option? When consulted, this is what Kiwis said they wanted. The matter
of GM food encapsulates the predicament of nation states after trade
liberalisation. We are now told we must adopt GM food practices or fail
economically. Conformity is required even at the risk of the population's
health. The market was meant to deliver consumers more diversity, more
choices. In reality, there are boundaries within which companies and
countries compete and these are set and enforced by the market. The level
playing field turns out to require conformity within and across national
boundaries. The metaphor for this homogenisation is McDonald's, which is
marketed in carbon copy form everywhere in the world, no matter how
incongruous the setting.
Free trade requires a culture of sameness. There is little to distinguish
a supermarket in Apia, Auckland or Atlanta. We are rapidly losing the
cultural identity of our commodities and our markets. Food production and
retailing are increasingly monopolised by trans-nationals which operate on
a global scale. Food is more likely to be shipped great distances from
wherever it is cheapest than obtained locally. Primary food producers are
forced to reduce overheads and cut cost to compete. The supermarket system
has led us to expect we can obtain out-of-season fruits and vegetables and
to expect a perfect appearance, even though this may have little
correlation with taste.
Globalisation has led to the development of mega-corporations which
dominate their lesser competitors and are bigger even than nations. For
instance, Monsanto, the major producer of GM foods, has annual sales
around the world of $14.5 billion. This is larger than the gross domestic
product of New Zealand. The entire organics industry in the US turns over
only $8billion a year. The size of biotechnology interests explains why we
are not well placed to debate and make decisions about the wisdom of
developing GM foods. The industry has such huge resources it dwarfs those
of potential critics or even moderators of the debate. The biotech food
industry promotes itself as the font of credible knowledge. Add to this
the industry has become so closely intertwined with opinion leaders,
regulators, and decision-makers it is not safe to trust normally sound
sources of information. People have reacted suspiciously to claims of
scientists that this technology is safe. Barely a week goes by when we
don't hear of some scientific disaster -- nuclear test sites that are
leaking, contraceptives that cause blood clots, health effects from
contaminated polio vaccines given 40 years ago, compensation for women
with silicone breast implants. Common to all these tragedies is the
insistence of science, over a long period, such practices were safe. No
wonder there is considerable scepticism about the claims for the safety of
GM food. In fact, there has been far less scrutiny of GM foods than most
medicines. Pharmaceuticals must go through many levels of trials -- in the
laboratory, on animals and on small groups of humans -- before they are
used on populations. Even then science can get it wrong as very large
numbers of people need to be exposed to pick up rarer risks. Third
generation oral contraceptives are a case in point. These are still early
days in knowledge about GM foods. Yet we have already moved to the global
population level. In the US, 75% of processed foods contain GM
ingredients. More than 50 million acres of farmland are growing GM crops.
Four years ago, there were virtually none. As GM foods are not segregated
it is virtually impossible to guarantee processed foods are GM free. Last
week, it was discovered a top-selling baby milk formula in the UK
contained SMA Wysoy, made from GM Roundup Ready soy. The makers of the
milk said it had become impossible to screen it out. As things stand in
New Zealand, we are not to be told whether foods contain GM ingredients.
But this huge, important issue cannot be reduced to allowing us simply to
exercise a choice over what we do or do not take off the supermarket
shelf. In a democratic society, citizens are entitled to a full, open
public debate about whether they wish to take part in the GM experiment,
or to decline to participate altogether, as users or producers of GM
products.
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