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Are genetically modified foods green?
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Last week Monsanto announced that it has developed a genetically modified (GM) soybean containing omega-3 fatty acids. These fatty acids are healthy for the heart and brain. The company claims that it will reduce the amount of fish being depleted from our oceans, a food source where much of the omega-3 fatty acids are extracted. Are genetically modified foods green?
Can a company own seeds in which they have genetically modified? Is it ethical? GM foods are complex and may be beneficial in one circumstance but not in another.
Can companies own the rights over inventions and ideas? Yes. One example is Google. Google is copying millions of books and uploading them onto the Internet. Google stated that what they are doing transcends copyright laws. They are providing literature and texts in a digital format to be accessible to all. Isn't this providing a public service? Google now faces publishing houses and authors' guilds suing on copyright infringement.
This brings us back to Monsanto. Many green living folks are quite familiar with the documentary World According to Monsanto, which depicts the company as having a monopoly over seeds. Particularly seeds they have genetically modified to produce high yields, fight off pests and diseases, and are immune to their herbicide called Round Up.
Monsanto was founded in 1901 and has a long history involved in herbicides (Agent Orange, Round Up), pharmaceuticals for livestock and growth hormones to increase milk production in dairy cows. Their biggest business is selling genetically modified seeds to farmers, which are patented by Monsanto. (Patent laws are protected by the U.S. Constitution to encourage people to invent. This strengthens the economy and builds upon technology and science.)
The selling point for these patented seeds is the promise that the farmers will face fewer problems with pests and very little pesticides are required. It sounds green. Chemicals are harmful to the environment and use a great deal of fossil fuels (see article on Project Safeyard). These seeds save farmers money and time. Monsanto's products do produce high yields. However there is a downside, which a typical farmer and any person may have difficulty contemplating. Monsanto only allows farmers a one time use of their seed. They are not allowed to collect and use seeds produced each year as many farmers have practiced for thousands of years. Farmers try to find the best seeds to increase nutritional value and crop size.
Monsanto sold licenses to farmers to use the seeds for only one season. Microsoft is the brainchild behind giving licenses on products. Most PC users know, or should know, that they only have the right to use the Microsoft products and they don't actually own them. They can't allow other people to copy the software and use it without Microsoft's permission. Microsoft is protecting their patented product from piracy.
However Monsanto patented a living organism, which is bit more complex. When farmers purchase the seed they have a binding contract to only grow the seed for one season. Many farmers are unaware of this contract. Who ever heard of someone owning the rights to seeds?
Monsanto keeps track of their seeds of corn, cotton, canola, soy beans and other widely consumed foods. They take a seed, use biotechnology to modify it by manipulating the genetic makeup of the seed, and then patent it so no one else can use their seed without their permission and for a price of course.
About ten years ago Monsanto hired private investigators to spy on rural farmers in the U.S. and Canada. The mission was to discover if the farmers were violating the license. Monsanto would send the investigator to threaten a lawsuit if the contract was violated. If farmers continued to break the contract they would take the farmers to court. Because Monsanto owns the rights to these seeds (totally legal), farmers usually lost lawsuits because they were violating a binding contract, whether they grew the seed intentionally or unintentionally according to Crop Choice (an American farmer news source).
Monsanto decided to alleviate the issue of reusing seed by creating a terminator seed. This was a sterile seed that would not grow. However, Monsanto was pressured not to develop these seeds by activists and halted commercial development in 1999. In July 2009, they continue to stand by the commitment not to distribute terminator seeds commercially in an online statement.
This examiner learned last year (2008) that while seeds may not be committing suicide; farmers in India are due to Monsanto's practices. According to the Daily Mail (UK) Monsanto sold their products to under educated poor rural farmers in India, who could not read English or understand "American" farming practices. Because these poor farmers could not follow the directions on the packages of GM seeds, pesticides, irrigating instructions, and herbicides, their crops failed. The results were mass suicides by the thousands. Farmers method of death was to drink Monsanto's chemicals.
Many Americans are unaware of GM foods or the ethical implications behind them. However many Europeans are well aware of GM foods and have banned some of them from their countries. Yet the U.S. continues to buy them without their knowledge or ethical implications. This is because GM foods are not required to be labeled as a GM product.
While there isn't any direct evidence that GM foods (developed by many biotechnology companies) are harmful for consumption, many who are advocates (Organic Consumers Association) for organic foods are concerned about long term health effects, lack of biodiversity, lack of nutritional content (see article on veganism), and the interaction of GM seeds with other seeds (cross pollination).
Remember the three Rs and three Es in order to be truly green.
Can GM seeds be recycled and reused? No, not without the permission of the company that owns the rights to the seeds.
Can GM seeds reduce the use of chemicals harmful to the environment? Yes, compared to conventional farming practices.
Are GM seeds environmentally friendly? There isn't a clear answer on this question. However, the Monsanto seeds are immune to Round Up, an herbicide. The herbicide is not environmentally friendly. It is harmful to humans and other life forms. On the other hand, the new GM soybeans containing omega-3 fatty acids will reduce the need to overfish. Can soybeans replace fish?
Are GM seeds energy efficient? Yes, they reduce the amount of energy that a farmer needs to dispense on pesticides.
Are GM seeds and food ethical and green? Only you can answer that question.
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