Organic food and farmers are under threat due to biotech companies releasing gene edited foods without disclosure. This not only poses risks to consumers but also affects seed saving and organic certification. The potential contamination from gene edited crops can harm organic farms and biodiversity, especially with the absence of environmental safety reviews. The National Farmers Union is advocating for farmers’ rights and proper regulation, emphasizing the need for action to protect regenerative and organic farmers.
Threat To The Existence Of Organic Farmers
Transcript
The very existence of organic food and farmers is facing massive threats and directly affects the food on your table. How so? Let’s unpack.
Biotech companies can now make and release new patented gene-edited foods into our food supply without telling the government, farmers, or even us, the consumers, what they’re genetically modifying. This will directly impact us because we simply won’t know what we’re buying. So why is this an issue for farmers? Many farmers save their seeds year after year to replant, but when it comes to patented seeds, farmers are often not allowed to save them, as they’re technically owned and patented by a corporation. Because what is being gene-edited can go straight to market without safety approvals, organic farmers may not even know if the seeds they’re buying are gene-edited or not. Under organic standards, organic farmers are not allowed to use GMOs. This means a farmer could end up with the wrong seeds and lose their organic certification.
There’s no way to track what will be released to the market, and without corporations telling us or farmers, it becomes really difficult to avoid. It also opens up a massive risk for cross-contamination and cross-pollination. We used to only have a few main crops that were genetically modified, primarily crops like corn, canola, soy, and sugar beet. But now, as many more varieties are entering the market, it puts more farmers at risk of having their farms contaminated.
To break it down, here’s a scenario for you. Let’s say I’m an organic farmer and I’m growing a crop, and my neighbor decides to plant a gene-edited variety of that same crop on their land. If you struggle with seasonal allergies, you already know that pollen can carry for kilometers. So if the pollen cross-pollinates with my crops, they would end up contaminated with gene-edited varieties. As a farmer, this could lead to me losing my organic certification and potentially being sued for stealing that gene-edited variety.
The National Farmers Union has been really vocal in trying to protect farmers’ rights and calling for the complete reversal of this decision. They’ve been standing with all farmers to protect the right to save seeds and properly regulate gene-edited crops. Ultimately, this lack of regulation around gene-edited seeds could directly and irreversibly harm organic and conventional farms while removing our seed sovereignty and monopolizing seed supplies.
We also have to be aware of the risk of biodiversity as genetic pollution spreads. Currently, there are no environmental safety reviews, and once these gene-edited varieties are released, it’s too late. Nature does not do recalls. Seeds are really the very beginning of life. They support every single one of us, and they help in creating our ecosystems and our food supply. Now, more than ever, we need to protect regenerative and organic farmers that are producing nutritious and climate-friendly foods.
Many have turned to action by telling their government how they feel about this decision and the ripple effect of damage this can create. This decision to deregulate is not set in stone, so there is still an opportunity to advocate for change.