September
2004
Food
Fight: The Campaign to Label Genetically Engineered Foods
The Satya Interview with Craig
Winters
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The Campaign to Label Genetically Engineered Foods
is a grassroots organization dedicated to promoting federal legislation
to ensure that
all food products containing genetically modified organisms (GMOs)
are labeled as such. Satya consulting editor Stephanie
Miller recently
spoke with the organization’s Executive Director, Craig
Winters,
to learn more about the group and what we can each do to bring this
important issue to the attention of our political and community leaders.
What was the motivation to found the Campaign in 1999?
There was a headline article in the Natural Food Merchandiser magazine
saying that they had discovered that some organic corn chips that had
been shipped over to Denmark had been contaminated [with] GMOs. They
determined that it must have been the neighbor’s cornfield, and
that the pollen had drifted in and contaminated the organic corn. I
realized that it wasn’t going to be good enough for all of us
to sit back and eat our organic food and not worry; that this was going
to be a direct assault on organics.
The mission for the Campaign is specifically
focused on enacting labeling laws. Why didn’t you concentrate
on trying to eradicate genetically engineered food from the American
food supply?
We think certain crops should be banned immediately, like corn for
example, due to the cross-pollination and the organics being contaminated.
But with a crop like soybeans, which is self-pollinating, there is
not an issue of cross-pollination. We realized if we passed labeling
legislation, we could have a better chance of getting that through
Congress. Besides, everywhere that labeling has been introduced, food
manufacturing companies immediately choose to use non-genetically engineered
ingredients, simply because of consumer preference. So, we realized
that labeling would have a defacto ban effect on crops production we
wanted, and we wouldn’t have to argue all of the fine aspects
of the science of whether it’s safe or not.
Quite frankly, we’re not trying to say that there’s no value to genetically
engineered food. There might be some really wonderful aspects here, but you can’t
go about it in a haphazard manner; totally reckless with what could be harmful
to the environment and human health. If companies did their homework and made
sure they’re testing crops in areas that aren’t going to contaminate
the larger environment, like greenhouses, there could definitely be wonderful
advantages to genetically engineered crops. It’s got to be done with some
logic.
How have things changed over the past five years that the Campaign has been in
existence? Are people more aware of the issues involved with GE?
When we first started there was very little awareness. Then there was the Starlink
problem [where contaminated GE corn prompted the recall of hundreds of snack
items] in 2001 that got quite a bit of attention, and recently there have been
a number of other studies that have come out. Most recently the National Academy
of Sciences study (August 2004) on the safety of genetically engineered foods,
pointed out that there are a lot of unanswered questions. Not only should there
be more thorough pre-market research, but also post-market surveys to be able
to determine whether or not there were any problems. How are you going to do
those post-market surveys without labeling?
Has John Kerry voiced any opinion about labeling genetically engineered food?
We’ve heard from him, and it’s very favorable. Of course, he has
a very powerful environmental record. There are two aspects that we really look
at [in terms of] genetically engineered foods—health and environmental.
We think that the evidence on the environmental aspects alone [of genetically
engineered foods] should get us someone like Kerry to at least raise his eyebrows.
Any rational person who really looks at the state of the research right now will
realize that these crops haven’t been subjected to adequate safety testing.
The fact is we’re making guinea pigs out of the public and people have
the right to know. We, personally, don’t endorse any candidate. We have
to influence politics on both sides of the aisle, but we are favorable in terms
of what we’ve been hearing about Kerry.
California’s Mendocino County recently passed
a bill preventing genetically engineered crops from being grown within the county.
Four other California counties
are also slated to vote on a similar measure. In addition, Vermont recently became
the first state in the U.S. to require manufacturers to label genetically engineered
seed products in that state. With this growing public groundswell, do you think
that Representative Dennis Kucinich will have more success with the federal labeling
bills he has proposed?
Yes I do. It looks like he’ll be a shoe-in for reelection in his district.
If Kerry does get elected, then I think that Kerry and Kucinich will have a strong
working relationship. He’ll be able to bend Kerry’s ear quite effectively
on the need for some of these changes, whereas the Bush administration has been
pretty closed-minded. The Clinton administration was really closed-minded too.
A lot of these people looked early on at biotechnology as a method to increase
U.S. exports and it has been just the opposite; the world has turned against
our GMO crops.
What do you recommend people do on an individual level to voice concern about
GE foods locally, regionally and nationally?
On the national level, there are letters on our website that they can send to
their members of Congress asking them to support various bills. There are actually
six bills before Congress that have to do with genetic engineering. There is
a seventh bill in the Senate that was introduced recently by Senator Durbin that
we are not supporting, due to the way it was written.
There’s an old saying that all politics are local politics. If you go to
our website, and click on the ‘cities’ link, you’ll see a copy
of a resolution that can be taken to a member of city or county council and introduced
as a resolution calling for support of the federal labeling legislation. As people
begin to look more closely at GE foods, they’ll see that they should indeed
be labeled. I think it’s going to make a much easier battle for federal
legislation, the more city and state action there is.
To learn more about the issues and sign up for their email newsletter visit
the
Campaign’s website, www.thecampaign.org. Other resources for information
about genetically engineered foods include www.foodfirst.org and www.truefoodnow.org.
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