Report 4 | November 2015

GMO Inquiry 2015’s fourth report investigates the impacts of genetically modified crops on farmers in Canada over the past twenty years.

Have GM crops benefited farmers? Have they increased yields and farm incomes? And what are the costs of herbicide-resistant weeds and GM contamination for farmers?

For those of you who have read the Mary Shelley novel “Frankenstein,” you remember that the name refers to the scientist Victor Frankenstein, not the monster he constructed from body parts found in the local cemetery. The story has captured the public’s imagination for nearly 200 years, and “franken” has become a common prefix—and a pejorative—for genetically modified organisms (GMOs), which are made with cut-and-pasted genetic material from different species of plants, animals and microorganisms.

New Poll Shows Canadians are Highly Concerned About GM Foods and Want Mandatory Labelling

September 29, 2015.

Ottawa, ON. A national Ipsos Reid poll commissioned by the Canadian Biotechnology Action Network (CBAN) reveals 88 per cent of Canadians want genetically modified (GM) foods labeled on grocery store shelves. Of the over 1000 Canadians polled, over half oppose genetically modifying crops and animals to produce food.

“Our poll shows that Canadians have a range of concerns about genetically modified foods,” said Lucy Sharratt of CBAN. “The vast majority of Canadians who want labelling just want to know what’s in the food they’re eating. Canadians are also concerned about safety, the environmental impacts and some have ethical concerns about genetically modifying plants and animals.”

Since the first GM foods were approved for sale in Canada twenty years ago, polls have consistently shown that the overwhelming majority of Canadians want mandatory labelling.

The new poll comes as the world’s first GM food animal – a GM Atlantic salmon – is pending approval from Health Canada. “45 per cent of Canadians polled said they definitely don’t want to eat the GM fish, but without labelling how can they make this choice?” asked Thibault Rehn of Vigilance OGM.

It's been 20 years since genetically engineered (GE; also called genetically modified or GM) crops and foods were first introduced into Canada.

Only 4 GE crops are currently grown in Canada:

canola

corn

soy

sugar beet (white sugar beet for sugar processing)

These 4 crops end up on our grocery store shelves as processed food ingredients and are also widely used for animal feed and to make biofuels. These crops are engineered to be either insect resistant or herbicide tolerant, and many now carry both traits.

We could also be importing a small amount of:

5. GE papaya (from Hawaii)

6. GE squash - some varieties of yellow crookneck squash (from the US)

7. GE cottonseed oil

8. milk products from the US made with the use of recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone

BIO World Congress on Industrial Biotech 2015

BIO is the world's largest biotechnology industry lobby group. In June 2015, BIO changed its name from the Biotechnology Industry Association to the Biotechnology Innovation Association. In 2012, BIO spent $65 million dollars on its activities. BIO members include three of the six largest biotech, seed and pesticide companies in the world: Monsanto, Dow AgroSciences, BASF.

The BIO World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology is in Montreal July 19-22 and is a platform for the development and promotion of biofuels and biomass including the use of synthetic biology.

(.....)

Companies have big plans for our future – but are corporate solutions real solutions? Genetic engineering including new technologies like synthetic biology threaten to commodify every living organism, replace livelihoods and put our environment at risk.

Where in the world are GM crops and foods?

The reality of GM crops in the ground and on our plates

Report 1 | March 2015

In this first report of the GMO Inquiry 2015, we investigate what genetically modified (GM) crops are grown in Canada and around the world, where they are being grown, how much of each one is being grown, and where they end up in our food system.

“Where in the world are GM crops and foods?” is the first in a series of reports that investigate unanswered questions from 20 years of GMOs in Canada. Watch this space for future reports, and join us as we examine the impacts of GM crops on our environment, on our food and farming systems, and on our health.

Okanagan residents react to Arctic Apple approval by Health Canada

KELOWNA – After more than three years waiting for approval, the Okanagan’s Arctic Apple now has the green light to hit store shelves in Canada. The genetically modified apple doesn’t turn brown and Health Canada’s approval means it could hit store shelves as early as next year.

While it may be good for Okanagan Specialty Fruits (OSF), the company behind the apple, the Okanagan Fruit Growers’ Association (BCFGA) has some concerns.

“If you’re going to let the market decide, you’re going to have to give people a reference point to make a decision based on their personal purchasing habits, and I would assume that would be through some kind of labeling,” says BCFGA president Fred Steele.

The City of Vancouver will kick off a week of events on Tuesday morning for Non-GMO Awareness Week in an effort to promote better understanding of the issues raised by genetically modified organisms in our food system.

Consumers are generally wary of GMOs when asked by pollsters, but many people hold serious misconceptions about GMOs and the risks they pose, especially to the environment, said Trish Kelly, a member of the Vancouver Food Policy Council.

“People are concerned about GMOs, but they don’t necessarily have all the facts, so the attention of having the city make this proclamation — the first one in Canada — allows us to have conversations about a pretty complicated issue,” said Kelly.

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

Share the event pages on Facebook! https://www.facebook.com/cban.canadian.biotechnology.action.network

Or contact us for posters! Thank you for helping to promote these events.

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.