GMOs continue to go unlabeled

by Eugenio Mendonza

Under current Canadian laws no company is required to label products as a Genetically Modified Organisms. However, some experts say the public should be more informed about how their food is grown. For the past 20 years polls have consistently shown that 80 per cent of Canadians want GMOs to be labeled.

 

Tony Mitra, a former shipping industry executive, says not enough is currently known about GMOs. He says gene splicing the process of genetically modifying foods has not been proven to be fool proof and there are many factors that are not properly understood.

 

“Genetic mutations in organisms have to go through the test of time, lots of time. In the end, the better ones survive and are picked up by humans and other animals, while the bad ones either go extinct or are avoided by the living creatures,” said Mitra.

 

The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety to the Convention on Biological Diversity is a resolution that indicates ways and rules for GMO’s to be properly handled without jeopardizing the indigenous plant life or humans and animals. There are currently 168 countries that have signed and upheld this resolution, however neither Canada nor the USA are on that list.

 

Mitra says business is the main reason GMOs are so prevalent in North America.

 

“The idea is not necessarily to improve your health or take care of food supply. The model is to own every food you eat, and deny the farmers their right to save their seeds and replant them next year. The idea of GMO is that farmers must purchase fresh seeds from these biotech companies every year,” said Mitra.

 

In 2013, the food industry in the state of Washington  spent $20 million making sure a bill requiring GMO labeling was not approved. In California, $47 million was spent in advertising trying to prevent the passing of Proposition 37, which would have prevented GMOs from being labeled as natural.

 

Russell Almeida, a business student at the University of Windsor, says without GMOs the food industry would suffer and food prices would go up.

 

“It’s because of GMOs that our grocery stores have so much fresh fruit. Without GMOs, we wouldn’t be able to have imported fruits and vegetables because naturally, they would spoil before they even got on shelves. If it weren’t for GMOs, you’d probably see produce prices double or even triple,”

 

The food industry in Canada brings in an estimated $92.9 billion each year with Canada being the third largest producer of GMOs.

 

Almeida says GMOs are essential to the Canadian economy and there are no proven negative long term effects.

 

“Our economy is not doing so well right now,” said Almeida. “We need all the help we can get financially. Labeling GMOs projects unnecessary fear towards consumers. People need to understand that farming isn’t the small family ranch type of thing that they might see in movies. Like it or not farming is a big business industry and it’s hard enough to keep up with demands from cities,”

 

“People only hear about the negative side of GMOs but never the positives. The food industry is a major part of Canada’s economy and without GMOs that industry wouldn’t be able to flourish as it does.” said Almeida.