Technology in my Food? What's in Your Food, and How Do You Know?

What happens if (Shock #1) a Biotech giant (i.e. Monsanto) used incomplete data to obtain approval of its genetically modified foods? Apparently this happens more often than we think! It reminds me of how (Shock #2) the first few million bottles of "pure" water sold in North America were, actually, tap water while nobody seemed to know, care, or rebel against this, in spite of independent reports of such things. I am surprised to hear that (Shock #3) Canada, and BC (by virtue of its vast agricultural industry, aside from the Prairies which mine for uranium and grow GE food!), is one of the largest producers of GE crops in the world and, across the country, up to 70 per cent of processed foods found in grocery stores contain or may contain GE ingredients. The most common GE ingredients come from crops like corn, soy, canola and cotton. So why should you care? And what's it got to do with Vancouver? Click for MORE...

Last month, we learned that (Shock #4) our City Council (due to a partial vote) did not consider GMO foods to be a "city" concern. So Greenpeace and Genewatch (among other NGO's, directly and indirectly involved) are launching a petition demanding that the BC government introduce mandatory labeling before next election. We know, after hearing about this last month, as much as 70% of the processed foods on store shelves may contain GE ingredients (GE stands for Genetically Enhanced/Engineered). I feel that all "consumers" -- nay, people -- have a right to know what is in the food they eat, particularly if they try to live in a supposed "sustainable" environment that Vancouver is slated (or presumed) to become. We have the right to know and make informed choices whether or not we want to eat untested and risky tech-food.

Enhanced food is a local question for Vancouver, as Canada at large cited nearly a dozen bio-contaminations in the past few years. It is reported that GE present enormous dangers to the environment and biodiversity. The safety of GMOs to human health is still untested. According to the recent Greenpeace/Genewatch GM Contamination Report, there have been 142 cases of GMO contamination worldwide with (Shock #5) 9 of such contamination incidents occurring in Canada in the past ten years. The thing is, (Shock #6) once you release genes into the fields and into the food chain you can never know what they will do, it's like experimenting with dynamite, or like trying to build a bomb in a glass house. Greenpeace opposes putting genetically modified organisms in the environment. As an interim measure, they demand mandatory labeling to give consumers the ability to say NO to this technology.

Greenpeace's petition demands that mandatory labeling be adopted in BC before the next provincial election. BC has the opportunity to lead the way for the country on this issue, and it behooves us as health-conscious west-coast laid back folk to take that seriously, don't you think? Please download the petition, distribute it in your community and return it to Greenpeace. Make City Council and our Provincial Government listen to the 80% or British Columbians who want mandatory labeling of GMOs.

PICTURE CREDIT: Pink Dolphin & Blue Elephant's Photostream.