Why is this a big deal? Because GE wheat has never been approved for commercialization or sale. These strains of GE wheat escaped from GMO field experiments conducted across 16 states by Monsanto from 1998 to 2005. As the USDA states, "Further testing by USDA laboratories indicates the presence of the same GE glyphosate-resistant wheat variety that Monsanto was authorized to field test in 16 states from 1998 to 2005."
And that means genetic pollution is already out of control. The GE wheat for which Monsanto claims patent ownership is now invading farms that never planted GE wheat.
All U.S. commercially-grown wheat now suspect
There are at least five serious ramifications from this:#1) Monsanto can now sue all the farms where GM wheat has been found growing. According to U.S. federal courts, those farmers have "stolen" Monsanto's intellectual property.
#2) The spread of GM wheat from experimental fields to wheat production fields is proof that GMOs cause genetic pollution -- self-replicating pollution with the potential to devastate global food production.
#3) All wheat produced in the United States will now be heavily scrutinized -- and possibly even rejected -- by other nations that traditionally import U.S. wheat. This obviously has enormous economic implications for U.S. farmers and agriculture.
#4) It proves the USDA cannot control the GMO field experiments it approves. Open-field experiments are not "safe" nor "controlled." They are experiments conducted in the open air, where genetic pollution is an inevitable result. The genetic pollution that began in 1998 can't be put back into the box in 2013...
#5) U.S. consumers who eat wheat products are right now almost certainly ingesting some level of genetically modified wheat. This level may currently be very small -- perhaps even less than 1% -- but it is yet another source of GMO pollution in the food supply that could hugely impact Americans' grocery shopping decisions.
No comments:
Post a Comment