Source: LOHAS Weekly Newsletter
Published: Saturday, September 01, 2001

WINNIPEG, Manitoba—On July 31, numerous farm, health and citizens’ groups held a news conference in order to compose a letter to Prime Minister Jean Chretien to voice concerns over the introduction of genetically modified (GM) wheat on Canadian soil. The letter was signed by more than 300 associations, governments, groups, researchers and individuals, all asking Chretien to stop companies such as Monsanto Corp. (MON) from planting GM wheat until the concerns of the people are addressed.

The Canadian wheat crop is valued at about $2.9 billion per year.

For Canadian farmers, the introduction of GM wheat is potentially risky. Cross-pollination and the drifting of pollen from one wheat field to the next would make it impossible to guarantee product purity. National Farmers Union (NFU) board member and spokesperson for the coalition, Stewart Wells, explains: “Two-thirds of the countries that we [Canada] export wheat to have expressed that they do not want to buy genetically modified wheat at this time. That’s just poor business if we allow this to happen.”

The organic industry could be even harder hit. Previously, when genetically modified canola seeds were planted in Canada, drifting canola pollen contaminated many organic canola fields. As a result, Europe will no longer accept organic canola from Canada. Based on this experience, organic farmers now fear losing the organic wheat market as well.

While agencies such as the Canadian Grain Commission, based in Winnipeg, believe they can design a detection system by which genetically modified wheat could be separated from the non-GM variety, it would be impossible to guarantee that absolutely no GM material was present in the supposed GM-free wheat. Such a system would require that an international tolerance level for GM material be set.

“There’s a lot of push for an international standard. However, the problem is that if the standard is set at 5 percent and the wheat comes through at 6 percent, who pays for the loss?” Wells asks.

Canadian farmers fear that it will end up being them.

It comes down to the fact that the government is responsible for the promotion and regulation of the industry, and GM products are being promoted with taxpayer dollars, thus creating a conflict of interest between the government and the skeptical members of society. “The NFU has a detailed policy, which took three years to create, but the whole document can be rolled into two words: slow down. That’s all we are asking for,” Wells says.

On the upside, while Monsanto currently has test fields of GM wheat planted in Canada, it will be two more years before it can sell the seed to farmers. So there is time to address concerns before the product is fully introduced. Even Monsanto agrees: “If we don’t have a product that is going to benefit farmers, and benefit the industry, and it’s not going to be accepted by consumers, then essentially we don’t have a product,” Monsanto spokeswoman Trish Jordan told Reuters.

“Biotech companies will continue trying to bring new products into the market, and that’s a good thing, but that brings with it a responsibility to society,” adds Wells. In short, the coalition simply wants consumers to be informed about and be in favor of the product before toying with it. “If it can be brought on in an orderly fashion, that’s one thing; we just don’t want it to drop on us all at once,” he says.

To learn more about genetically modified wheat or the introduction of GM wheat to

Canada, visit www.nfu.ca/.