What has our food become?

By LISA SCHMIDT
of The Leader-Post

Biotechnology could forever alter the food we put on our plates. So why is no one asking questions about the safety, ethics and efficacy of genetic modification technology, asks Winnipeg journalist and author Ingeborg Boyens.

In her book Unnatural Harvest: How Corporate Science is Secretly Altering our Food, Boyens takes issue with the way governments and corporations are readily embracing -- and rushing forward with -- genetically altered crops.

"The whole notion of crossing the species line of taking a gene from one species and putting it into another is truly unnatural, is something that nature never allowed before,'' she said in an interview Monday.

Yet science is pushing ahead -- bringing herbicide-resistant canola, "bug proof" potatoes and tomatoes with longer shelf life into the marketplace, she said.

Noticeably absent is any ethical debate surrounding the issue, Boyens said.

"We've heard the industry essentially say 'Trust us. Don't worry about it. Don't worry about science.'"

But the 20-year veteran journalist was surprised at the lack of guidelines and ethical framework in the industry when she started digging into the issue for her job with the CBC television program Country Canada.

"I found that no one seemed to know about it outside of the agricultural areas and in the agricultural areas it seemed no one was asking any questions about it," she said.

That especially holds true in Saskatchewan, where much of the country's research work is being done, Boyens said.

The Saskatchewan government in particular has unashamedly promoted the biotechnology industry in the province, she said, and injected millions of dollars of public money to help to set up a world-renowned research centre in Saskatoon.

And yet the province's biotech spending is rarely challenged by the media or opposition politicians, she adds.

While Boyens said she can't fault the province for trying to rebuild a shrinking agriculture economy, she does think "the Saskatchewan government should take a step back and be aware of the fact that this may not be entirely a good news story."

"This is not something that is being developed by small Saskatchewan companies," she said. "It is developed by large transnationals that have set up branch plants and we don't really know what the risks will be in the long term."

For the corporations themselves, Boyens has even harsher criticism. She claims their drive for profits are "hijacking" research.

Most Prairie farmers are familiar with herbicide-resistant canola, which makes weed control easier, but only if producers use the companion herbicide.

"Let's make no mistake about it, we've heard a lot about biotechnology feeding the world, but right now it's an industry dominated by a few key transnational players who are bringing forward products and technology to sell their own products," she said.

But while companies maintain the technology will help produce better yields, it comes at an additional cost, Boyens said. Producers who need it the most, such as those in developing countries, cannot afford such technology.

And there's no proof consumers want genetically modified products, she said.

"In Europe, they are absolutely panic-stricken by this stuff," she said, adding a consumer "revolt" has pushed foods containing genetically modified organisms off supermarket shelves. Canadian exports of transgenetic canola have been shut out of the European Union.

But North American consumers seem oblivious to what makes up the food served on their plates, said Boyens.

"I think a lot of people assume the government regulators are out there taking care of us to ensure the food we eat -- serve our families -- is going to be healthful and safe."

In fact, government cutbacks means less testing is being done, she said.

"We have essentially no legislation on novel foods. We're seeing them introduced into the marketplace on a hope and a prayer."

Instead the federal government has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on biotechnology research and promotion, Boyens points out.

"We spend next to nothing on risk assessment. I would argue we should be putting a little more money to try to asses what the risks of this are," she said.

Boyens hopes it doesn't take a disaster like a massive crop failure before anyone starts asking questions.

"We've got long tradition here in the West of science and plant breeding, developing new crops and hybrids all really propelling agriculture forward so there's this assumption we're getting more of the same," she said.

"This is not more of the same."

http://www.leader-post.sk.ca