New reports from Friends of the Earth and Sustainable Pulse have drawn attention to the increasing concerns relating to higher risks of GM crops following the approval of GMO wheat in the USA. While hundreds of scientists and research papers have confirmed the many-sided high risks of GM crops for farming, health and environment, there has been some relief that at least some of the major food crops most widely consumed by human beings have been free so far from GM technology.
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In countries like India and neighbouring countries of South Asia where wheat and rice are the most favoured and staple food crops, it is of particular concern to keep these crops away from GM technology. Hence U.S. government’s recent approval of HB4 genetically modified (GMO) wheat is causing particular concern in South Asia as well as in most other countries. This concern is not just due to the overall high risks of GM crops, it is also due to the more specific warnings that GM wheat in particular can pose serious risks to public health, environment and farmers’ livelihoods, while offering no proven benefit. As the USA is known to be increasingly aggressive in promoting not only its farm exports, but in addition also GM technology as a part of its promotion of packages that suit US agro-business interests, there is increasing worry regarding future perils.
With the approval of HB4 consumers of USA and ultimately of several other countries face the prospects of herbicide-tolerant wheat entering the food system. Of course this is only the approval stage and it is not currently being grown commercially in the U.S. However the process of its potential spread has started. Friends of the Earth is calling on companies and consumers to reject HB4 GMO.
According to the documents of Friends of the Earth and Sustainable Pulse HB4 wheat is engineered to tolerate the toxic herbicide glufosinate ammonium. Glufosinate is banned in the European Union because it poses risks to human health. It is also linked to negative impacts on soil and ecosystem health.
“GMO wheat poses high risks with no clear benefits. It threatens farmers, consumers, and ecosystems,” said Dana Perls, senior program manager at Friends of the Earth. “Companies and consumers should reject genetically engineered wheat and support proven, sustainable solutions. Organic farming and traditional breeding protect climate, biodiversity, and food security — without toxic trade-offs.”
These documents say that HB4 wheat would extend the failed, toxic system of some other GM crops to a global staple food — deepening chemical dependence, increasing costs for farmers, and compounding environmental damage.
“even limited commercialization of HB4 could trigger trade disruptions or contamination of non-GMO wheat supplies… Even farmers who don’t plant HB4 could suffer, as genetic contamination and supply-chain mixing could jeopardize all U.S. wheat exports. Meanwhile, GMO seeds undermine farmers’ economic sovereignty by locking them into restrictive contracts with powerful seed and chemical corporations.”
“research links glufosinate to premature birth, miscarriage, stillbirth, skeletal birth defects, and autism-like behaviors in offspring.”
Source: Global Research
