WAIMEA — Some residents are becoming increasingly concerned about GMOs, genetically modified organisms whose DNA have been manipulated in order to change their characteristics, as such crops become more abundant on Kaua‘i. Jeffrey Smith, a leading spokesman on the health
WAIMEA — Some residents are becoming increasingly concerned about GMOs, genetically modified organisms whose DNA have been manipulated in order to change their characteristics, as such crops become more abundant on Kaua‘i.
Jeffrey Smith, a leading spokesman on the health dangers of GMOs and author of “Seeds of Deception and Genetic Roulette,” recently visited the island in an attempt to help spread awareness about what he called a “dangerous business.”
“The process of genetic engineering itself creates unprecedented side effects,” he said Thursday evening at a presentation in Waimea. “The process of insertion and cloning creates massive collateral damage to the DNA in these organisms. Two to four percent of the DNA is different in the genetically engineered organism compared to its parents; hundreds of thousands of mutations up and down the DNA.”
He went on to explain the many health-related side effects he believes will occur due to the over-consumption of mass produced, hybrid food.
“Every single cell of every one of these plants has a little spray bottle in its DNA producing BT toxin,” said Smith, after identifying the process that occurs to alter a crops’ genetic code.
On the other hand, there are proponents of genetic engineering who strongly argue that it is a viable solution to creating greater food supply worldwide with the use of less land.
“I am a scientist and not an expert on all of the topics, but when I hear many pieces of information that don’t ring true on a topic that I know and understand well, I question the rest of what I’m hearing,” said Dr. Cindy Goldstein, business and community outreach manager of Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc. in a phone interview Friday about Smith’s presentation. “We should not ignore the many benefits of biotechnology and that the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications tracks acceptance of agricultural biotechnology. In their report that came out in the last couple of weeks, it showed the continued global growth of plant biotechnology acceptance with 13 million farmers growing biotech crops in 25 countries in 2008.”
Goldstein was one of the local genetic engineering company representatives attending last week’s forum.
She said she “often finds opponents of biotechnology have a tendency to ignore substantial scientific data that overwhelmingly concludes biotech crops and food are safe.”
Smith, however, disagrees and believes that no substantial amount of research has been conducted proving modified foods to be safe for consumption and backed up his presentation with scientific evidence and lab studies between rats and various genetically altered products.
“It was somehow the process of genetic engineering” that caused illnesses and deaths in the animals, he said.
Considering his belief that GMOs create substantial health risks, he was thankful that representatives from biotech companies were in attendance.
“I’m so glad that you came so we could have this dialogue,” he said. “Too often, I give talks in the state and the country and those who are convinced that genetic engineering is safe and all research is done don’t show up and I don’t have any way of reaching them or talking to them or learning from them. So, thank you all, those of you who are here.”
He also warned them not to take anything personally, and that he was “not talking about all the research done by all people in all biotech companies or laboratories.”
In Smith’s opinion, there is hope that the United States will be able to take the necessary steps in order to stop genetically processed food from continuing to show up at meal time. He brought up a recent example against the decreased use of bovine growth hormone, a genetically engineered drug injected into cows to increase milk supply, which he said been known to increase the milk’s level of pus, antibiotic residues and cancer-accelerating hormones called IGF-1.
He believes that because of the recent consumer education into the health dangers of the growth hormone, a “tipping point of consumer rejection has been achieved.” By educating the public about the “health dangers involved,” he hopes the same will happen with genetically engineered foods.
“This is a demonstration that we can have a profound effect on the food supply,” said Smith. “We expect a tipping point on GMOs very soon. We expect to see company after company publicly commit to no longer use genetically engineered ingredients because we believe there will be a significant percentage of consumers that will stop eating foods that use these ingredients.”
Goldstein, on the other hand, believes that genetically modified foods do not have ill effects on consumers.
“In September 2008, a European study by the European Union’s Joint Research Center concluded that the rigorous testing and greater scrutiny of genetically engineered crops makes these foods even safer than conventionally grown plants and food,” she said. “This is a testament of the safety of these foods which we have seen time and time again in scientific studies.”
She also claimed that biotech farms have been tracked for the last 12 years when they first came to market and that thousands of studies with many different types of animals and feedings were conducted and hundreds were published, including peer-reviewed scientific studies.
Wherever an individual’s opinion may lie, Howard Hurst, a teacher at Waimea Canyon Middle School, still adamantly believes that the ongoing use of pesticides on Syngenta’s modified corn crops “upwind of our school” have been a health risk to both children and staff since treatments began in November 2006.
“While cultivation of corn goes on, so does spraying of pesticides. Sometimes the frequency of this spraying was twice a week and before we started making ‘stink’ it was going on during school hours.” he said Thursday night.
He also added, “Jeffrey Smith opened the door to a world I never knew existed in my own backyard.”
Smith advised the audience to pay more attention to what they order at restaurants and take-out chains, as well as what they purchase in grocery stores. He said many people would be surprised to find that 60 to 70 percent of foods found in the United States are genetically modified.
Smith added that soy, corn, cotton and canola are all mostly hybrid products and several others are “on trial.” He suggests purchasing products that are organic and non-GMO, without any “adverse ingredients.”
Jeri Di Pietro of GMO Free Kaua‘i agrees and said she was privileged to have the chance to meet with Smith several years ago.
“It did not take long for him to realize that Kaua‘i was ‘ground zero’ for open air field tests. Since that time he has been a consultant and adviser to us,” she said.
