Current System for Experimental GMO Test Plots seems to Be Anarchy,” Organic Growers’ Org. President Says by Nick Meyer

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Current System for Experimental GMO Test Plots seems to Be Anarchy,” Organic Growers’ Org. President Says

 

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 By Nick Meyer

 

 Alt Health Works,    June 24, 2014

 

 

 

While the movement for freedom from, and transparency regarding, genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and crops in our food system is gaining ground worldwide, the risk for cross contamination remains a consistent problem.

Organic and non-GMO farmers are grossly outnumbered on commodity crops like corn and soy, and cross contamination is rampant to the point where many non-GMO farmers are forced to abandon growing them according to Organic Seed Growers and Trade Organization President
Jim Gerritsen, whose group represents a wide range of American organic farmers.
Cross contamination from the known is one thing (and a costly problem to say the least), but many thousands of non-GMO farmers are also wary of the many “thousands if not tens of thousands” of experimental GMO crop test plots across the country that are currently not very well documented according to Gerritsen:

“The USDA system seems to be anarchy…there’s little documentation,” he said.

Gerritsen said that the lack of public identification of plots makes it hard to plan how to create “buffer zones,” a demand that is placed on non-GMO farmers who could potentially be sued by Monsanto if their crops test positive for “patented” GMO material they never wanted in the first place.

Non-GMO farmers have seen many incidents of organic and international markets rejecting their crops due to unwanted GMO contamination, and test plots are a major threat: several farmers saw their wheat exports rejected due to a mysterious case of GMO cross contamination last spring.

New test plots range from normal everyday crops that are being genetically modified to the bizarre, such as rice with human genes that has been growing on a test plot in Kansas.
But without identification, non-GMO, natural and organic farmers are left in the dark yet again by the USDA, which is why Gerritsen’s organization petitioned to USDA to place a moratorium on experimental crops until an identification system can be created.

“It’s an intolerable situation (for non-GMO famers),” Gerritsen said. “It’s completely out of control.”

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Alt Health Works