What are Genetically Engineered (GE) crops and foods?
GE crops are plants with DNA in which bioengineers have inserted one or more genes. GE foods contain ingredients made from GE crops, or other applications of GE.

GE versus traditional breeding
In traditional breeding, members of the same or very similar species are crossed to create offspring with some novel trait. This greatly limits the genes that can be combined. Furthermore, when different but similar species are crossed, their offspring are generally infertile. For example, a donkey and a mare can make a mule, but the mule will be infertile, the end of the line for the combined genes.

GE smashes these natural barriers! Using GE, any gene from any plant, animal, bacterium, fungus or virus can be inserted into the DNA in reproductive cells of any other organism. For example, GE enables scientists to create pigs, which have human genes, genes that will be passed on to future generations of GE pigs.

GE APPLICATIONS TO OUR FOOD

• Herbicide-tolerant crops.
  These are crops engineered to tolerate a weed killer so that it can be applied without harming the crop. Herbicide-tolerant crops account for about 71% of all GE crops.
  *Pesticide crops. Pesticide crops are engineered to produce a pesticide inside the plant. These crops account for about 22% of all GE crops. *Production chemicals. Some GE products are chemicals used in food production. For example, about a third of U.S. dairy cows are injected with recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH) to increase their milk production.
• Virus-resistant crops.
  Crops that are genetically engineered to resist viruses *Use restriction crops. Under development are crops that limit their own use. For example, "Terminator" seeds are designed to grow "normally" and then produce seeds that are sterile, forcing farmers to buy new seed every year, instead of being able to save, share and breed them.

GE crops and foods now on the market?
About 1/4 of all U.S. cropland is planted with GE crops, making the U.S. by far the world's largest producer. In 1999, about 50% of U.S. soybeans, 33% of corn and 55% of cotton were GE varieties.

But won’t this technology feed the world?
NO. The United Nations Food Programme reports that there is enough food produced worldwide to feed everyone one and a half times over. Clearly, hunger is therefore a matter of poverty and access to resources, not simple abundance. A redistribution of food and resources is key to solving this problem not GE.

Health impacts
Many health professionals around the world have sounded the alarm on GE foods. The British Medical Association, for example, has called for an indefinite moratorium on GE foods. A major concern is for those with allergies and toxins.

Environmental impacts
Pesticide use. Despite biotechnology industry PR about eliminating pesticides, virtually all GE crops are either designed to work in concert with conventional pesticides or do themselves contain pesticides.

Loss of biodiversity
Biodiversity, the variety of living things, is vitally important for healthy ecosystems. For example, the more diverse an agricultural region, the more that region is able to accommodate challenges from pests, disease or climate change. Yet the UN Food and Agricultural Organization estimates that 75% of the genetic diversity in agriculture present at the beginning of this century has been lost. In the U.S., 42% of the species which are threatened or endangered are at risk primarily due to non-indigenous species.

Loss of independence
GE crops extend agribusiness's control over seeds, and therefore its control over farmers. Worldwide, about 1.4 billion farmers save seeds, freely replanting, trading and sharing them, as well as breeding them to create strains that are well suited to local conditions. GE seeds are licensed, not owned, generally for one season. The farmer can eat or sell the harvest, but cannot use the seeds produced by the crop. In fact, Monsanto (who does extensive research in this area) has brought legal action against hundreds of farmers to assert its control over how seeds are used.
Higher costs! Growing GE crops are more expensive. Liability! Farmers growing GE or GE-contaminated crops are exposed to potential liability for possible harm to people and the environment. Crop contamination! Cross-pollination is occurring between GE fields and non-GE fields

Who regulates GE in the United States?
There is NO single agency responsible for GE. GE is regulated by three: The Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Their rules, designed for conventional plants, pesticides and foods, have been modified only slightly. Not surprisingly, regulation of GE crops and foods has numerous inadequacies. For example: There is no mandatory, independent pre-market safety testing for GE foods. Unfortunately, this inadequate oversight is not just a matter of bureaucratic misjudgment. The regulatory agencies often act to promote industry interests. For example, the USDA actually helped develop and is a joint patent holder for the Terminator seed technology.

International regulation
Outside the U.S., many countries have (or are developing) strong GE regulations, such as labeling requirements. The list includes almost all of Europe, Brazil, India, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Indonesia, Australia and New Zealand

RESISTANCE
In a short two-year span, Europe went from almost no public awareness of GE foods to a de facto ban brought about by consumer rejection. In 1998 Indian farmers launched “Operation Cremate Monsanto” and burnt Monsanto cotton fields in Sindhanoor, India. On college campuses across the U.S. many GE crops have been destroyed. There have been thousands of local grassroots actions, including: educational events, letter writing campaigns, demonstrations, GE "food dumps," shareholder resolutions, boycotts, regulatory and political lobbying, conferences and meetings, city resolutions and other kinds of direct action. Polls have consistently shown that Americans overwhelmingly want GE foods to be labeled. A 1999 Time magazine poll found that 81% of respondents want labeling. These polls also indicate that most consumers would not eat foods they know to contain GE ingredients.

Things you can do:

• Join a group to help build the grassroots movement.
• If there is no group in your area, start one.
• Send a comment to the FDA. Support the national labeling and safety testing bills.
• Buy local, organic foods and fibers. If you can't completely avoid non-organic foods, avoid those likely to contain GE ingredients.

Learn more about GE and the biotech industry.

• Genetically Engineered Food Alert www.gefoodalert.org
  A U.S. coalition of thousands of consumer, environmental, and public health organizations, and chefs, religious leaders, doctors and scientists.
• Food First www.foodfirst.org
  A member supported, non-profit peoples think tank and education for action center
• Monsantos www.monsanto.com
  A site created "for the clarification of Monsanto's messages"
• The Campaign to Label Genetically Engineered Foods. www.thecampaign.org
• Information Systems for Biotechnology: www.isb.vt.edu/
  This site provides documents and searchable databases pertaining to the development, testing and regulatory review of genetically modified plants, animals and microorganisms within the U.S. and abroad.