The Future of Food

I just finished watching a documentary called The Future of Food this morning. I read about it in Gourmet magazine, and so thought I'd add it to my Netflix queue, since I'm passionate about all things food. It examines the impact of genetically modified foods, and it ended up being one of the most sobering films I've ever seen. I think it's worth the time to watch. It will change the way you think about what you buy at your local grocery store.

Did you know that anyone can patent a seed? During a case that dealt with the legality of patenting an organism that digests oil sludge, the Supreme Court ruled in the nineties that life can be patented, and as a result, Monsanto, ConAgra and their ilk began patenting as many seeds as they possibly could. And more than just the seeds that they themselves engineered--seeds of food that have been developed over thousands and thousands of generations. Simply put, they desire to control our ability to grow food. What the documentary suggests is that these corporations desire to own the seedstock, and then limit what is available in the marketplace to seeds that require other products they produce, such as RoundUp Ready herbicide.

Their goal? To be the only suppliers of seed to anyone in the world. They have used patent law to stifle small farmers, and so far, it has only involved their genetically modified seeds, but the fear is that in the future, they will use this law to prevent farmers from growing anything but seeds that they provide.

Anyone who wants to know how diabolical big agriculture is already becoming needs only look at Percy Schmeiser. He and his wife have been farming canola in Saskatchewan for over 50 years. Over that time, he developed and saved canola seeds that succeeded in his corner of the world, each year building on the success of the previous year. Like the farmers in the millennia before him, each year he would save sufficient seedstock to replant in the next. One year in recent memory, he sprayed RoundUp around his telephone poles to keep the area clear. He noticed that much of the canola did not die, and he could only assume that somehow, genetically modified canola had found it's way into his seedstock. These plants were "RoundUp Ready," which means that they were genetically engineered to withstand the killing effects of RoundUp. Word spread throughout the farming community, and Monsanto, maker of RoundUp, discovered the story.

They trespassed on his land to obtain samples and then sued Percy Schmeiser for patent violations, for growing their seed on his land without the required licensing fees. Percy never bought seed from Monsanto. Seed from area farmers who used RoundUp Ready canola blew onto his land, mixing in with his plantings. This meant nothing to Monsanto or to the Canadian Supreme Court. They ruled in the favor of Monsanto, establishing that the onus is on the family farmer to be sure that their fields are free from patented seed. How will this be possible when seeds are transported by wind, birds and animals? Monsanto and their brethren have attacked family farms like this all over the country. Most settle out of court, and pay a fee to Monsanto.

A few other terrifying facts:

• Some tomatoes have been combined with a gene from the flounder fish to maintain freshness.
  
• The most effective way to invade cell walls of plants is through ecoli bacteria, and this exists in most GM food.
  
• In Mexico, there are thousands of varieties of corn that have been developed over generations. Mexico banned the growth of genetically modified corn to protect this valuable resource, though corn from America for eating and feeding livestock was made available to buy. Farmers bought this GM corn, and then planted it, which now has crossed with some of the local varieties of corn. These genes are designed with a preferential gene hierarchy, so that their progeny will favor the genes that were genetically modified, essentially threatening the very biodiversity that is essential to saving the future of food. In the past, Mexico's vibrant biodiversity saved America's corn production when corn blight wiped out the existing crop and subsequent seedstock. Mexico seed that was naturally resistant to this corn blight was combined through natural means, providing seedstock in America that would resist this blight. GM endangers this biodiversity.
  
• The next step for big agriculture is inserting a "suicide" gene into plants. At the end of the growing cycle, the suicide gene turns on, killing the seed, thus preventing it from being able to be retained for next year's season, and ensuring that the farmer must buy seed from big agriculture. This gene already exists and is being tested. What happens if this gene cross pollinates just as the GM corn crossed in Mexico? Remember that these genes are designed to be preferential. A quote from a Monsanto representative stated that it was not the responsibility of Monsanto to protect the food supply--this was the purview of the FDA. There are two patent holders on this suicide gene. One of them is the U.S. Government.
• Monsanto is also developing seeds that require chemicals for germination to take place.
  

Finally, in their bid to garner public favor, they have posed the premise that GM food is the means to feed a starving world. It has been a massive public relations campaign. If their wish is fulfilled, what will happen is that the third world will be forced to use their seeds, providing more profit to their companies. They have begun patenting the local seeds of third world countries, and have also begun an elaborate campaign to synchronize patent law all across the world, to be more in line with patent law in the United States.

I see this as a tremendous issue of social justice, a violation of fundamental human rights, and a supreme abuse of capitalism.

I encourage you to watch this film.

http://www.thefutureoffood.com