Join CBAN at events in Alberta, Oct 2-3, Calgary and Edmonton

What's Next for GMOs? Genetically Modified Food and Our Future

Do genetically modified (GM) crops and foods have a future in Canada? How would farmers and consumers be impacted by a GM "non-browning" apple or GM alfalfa? Bring your questions and participate in this important discussion!

Featuring: Lucy Sharratt, Coordinator, Canadian Biotechnology Action Network, Ottawa

Oct 2: University of Calgary. Thursday October 2nd, 4:00-5:30PM. Science Theatres 145. Presented by Blush Lane Organic Market and Sunnyside Organic Market.

Oct 2: Calgary. Thursday October 2nd, 7- 9PM Ambrose University. Free Admission, Please register at Blush Lane Organic Market www.blushlane.com Refreshments & Door Prizes! Presented by Blush Lane Organic Market

Oct 3: Edmonton. Friday October 3rd, 7- 9PM Roots on Whyte Community Building. Free Admission, Please register at Blush Lane Organic Market www.blushlane.com Refreshments & Door Prizes! Presented by Blush Lane Organic Market

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At $25 a bushel, organic soybeans could be a highly lucrative crop for organic farmers. But right now that market is out of reach for most due to the limited number of varieties suitable for organic production systems. A student researcher at the University of Manitoba is hoping to change that. She is evaluating conventional non-GMO varieties that are adapted to Manitoba’s shorter season, evaluating conventional non-GMO soybean varieties they could possibly grow in Manitoba’s shorter season. Michelle Carkner is overseeing plot trials at the Ian N. Morrison research farm at Carman and working with farmers on five separate farms in southern Manitoba this summer. It’s the first study ever conducted in Western Canada to test the agronomic performance and determine relative maturity rates of mid- and longer-season varieties grown elsewhere in Canada. In Ontario and Quebec, where soybeans have been grown much longer, farmers have many options among the later-maturing, non-GMO varieties developed for the growing conditions of those regions.

MONTREAL — A tiny, genetically modified seed is pitting Quebec farmers against the biotech industry.

A GM version of alfalfa, a staple in livestock feed, was supposed to be launched in Canada this year. The product, produced with technology by Monsanto, the world’s largest seed-and-chemical company, has already been approved by the federal government. But after protests across the country, farmers learned in March that the controversial seed won’t be here for at least another year. (.....) The Quebec Federation of Milk Producers, the Quebec Federation of Organic Agriculture, the Filière biologique du Québec and the UPA recently declared that they “strongly deplore” the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s approval of GM alfalfa varieties in April 2013. The widespread resistance among farmers and seed companies is one reason that the seed won’t be released this year, says Victor Lefebvre, Quebec director of Pickseed, a company that had planned to sell GM alfalfa.

Organic-food lovers scored a win at the expense of massive agriculture corporations – and perhaps B.C. farmers – at the Union of B.C. Municipalities conference on Thursday.

GMOs in Canada have been allowed since the mid 1990s. Canada is one of the top-five producers of GMO crops in the world. The major GM crops produced in Canada include canola, corn, soy, and to a lesser extent, sugar beet. Canada also imports GM varieties of cottonseed oil, papaya, and squash, among others.

Canada geese may have spread viable seeds of genetically modified wheat grown at the Central Experimental Farm, documents from Agriculture Canada show. The odds aren’t high, the department says.

More than one million acres of Canadian farmland have glyphosate-resistant weeds growing on them, including 43,000 in Manitoba, according to an online survey of 2,028 farmers conducted by Stratus Agri-Marketing Inc. based in Guelph, Ont. The shockingly high Canadian numbers met with skepticism from some experts who suggest farmers might be mistaking hard-to-kill weeds with glyphosate resistance. But others say the farmers are probably right. Even though there hasn’t been a single documented case of a glyphosate-resistant weed in Manitoba, the 281 Manitoba farmers surveyed said they believe there’s glyphosate-resistant kochia on 23,000 acres in this province.

If the Association of Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities gets its way, genetically modified crops will no longer be welcome on Island soil. The collective of regional politicians voted Sunday to ban GMO food and seeds. The motion, put forth by Metchosin Coun. Moralea Milne, passed by an overwhelming margin. [...] Although she’s “very proud” of the motion, Milne admits that it’s mostly a symbolic gesture. AVICC will move the motion to the Union of B.C. Municipalities, but it is not likely to garner much traction.

Saanich council took a united stance Monday night in opposing the use of genetically modified seed crops in the municipality. [...] “The councillors are not trained in the science, and they do not have the ability to differentiate between science and the pseudo-science,” said Robert Wager, who teaches at Vancouver Island University and has a background in biochemistry and molecular biology. [...] He says genetically modified crops that are drought and frost tolerant, and resistant to viruses and fungal infections. “There is so much research out there that rebuts any of the pseudo-scientific information (that informed council’s decision),” Wager said. [...] Council supported the motion 9-0 to oppose genetically modified seeds crops and write letters encouraging mandatory GMO labelling.

Richmond council stuck to its guns, ratifying its ban on genetically modified plants and crops. Biotech lobby group CropLife Canada sent a representative to speak to council before the vote. Several hundred people turned out for the meeting, many of them carrying signs opposing genetically modified organisms — popularly known as GMOs or GE crops — and calling for labelling of foods with GE ingredients. [...] “I don’t feel that they consulted all the experts that they could have to get a balanced point of view,” [CropLife spokeswoman Janice Tranberg] said after the meeting.