You know that moment in time when you suddenly understand a concept that has steadfastly eluded you? Perhaps you are just lounging in the grass watching the clouds race across the sky and ‘it’ hits you. Thinking about that moment afterward, you could almost swear you heard the sound of a key turning a lock or saw a flash of light as your ‘eureka’ moment exploded across your brain.

I had one of those when I attended a joint lecture by Dr. Thierry Vrain and Dr. Shiv Chopra in Squamish last Wednesday night regarding genetically engineered food (GE) and genetically modified food (GMO)…. ‘Frankenfood’ to the skeptics. These highly respected scientists and others like them are now speaking openly about the extreme danger that Frankcrops pose for North Americans. I say North Americans because governments almost everywhere but here have declared their countries to be GE/GMO free.

I had followed the on-going argument about the need for such food to increase crop yields and nutrient value to feed developing nations. I had not questioned the biotech industry’s ‘substantial equivalent’ argument that if a plant looked like corn, smelled like corn & tasted like corn, it must be corn. I did not notice that these same companies who argued that corn is not a new substance and as such, did not need to be subjected to rigorous scientific testing for toxic effects also argued in the patent office that they invented this ‘new’ product and should be granted proprietary rights to the sale of it.

Eureka! Drs. Vrain & Chopra illuminated the double speak. By the end of the evening it became a crystal clear issue for me:

If you alter the genetic code of a plant to code for a herbicidal effect (Roundup ready corn, for example), the plant ‘thinks’ it’s a herbicide.

If you alter the genes of a plant so that it kills bacteria, the plant ‘thinks’ it’s an antibiotic.

This was the issue I didn’t get until Wednesday night. When we consume GE/GMO’s we are consuming herbicides and antibiotics. If we eat non-organic corn, canola, soy or sugar beet – and we do that many times a day when we eat processed foods – we are eating herbicide and antibiotics. As North American farmers are growing these crops in large quantities and few other countries will buy them, this probably means that we consume most of what is produced, either directly or in the GMO-fed animals we eat.

The arguments used to defend the production and sale of Frankenfoods are crap. They have not withstood the growing level of scrutiny.

They do not increase crop yields. Studies show that crop yields are spiraling downwards, not increasing. This makes intuitive sense. If the plant is busy doing herbicide work, it’s plant-related functions are suffering.

Use of these crops does not reduce the need for herbicides and pesticides. Emerging ‘superweeds’ are increasingly resistant and use of these chemicals is actually increasing.

Frankencrops are not an answer to feeding the hungry in developing nations. The Vitamin A content injected into Golden rice for example, provides less than one microgram of the vitamin per serving. Consumption of a single medium-size carrot will provide at least 3000 micrograms.

I have heard Dr. Vrain speak on this issue before. His journey began with an invitation to speak at the Pemberton library three years ago. Since that time he has refined his message to emphasize one stark reality.

GE/GMO foods are about billions of dollars in profits for the biotech industry and not about solving social problems.

The available research shows that these products are toxic. GMO-fed rats and cats and dogs are dying every day in the laboratories of the world from cancers, diabetes, obesity, ALS/Parkinson’s type diseases and myriad others.

Outside the laboratories, the tumors in the flesh of animals fed GMO grain are routinely excised by slaughter house workers when preparing the meat for sale. Milk from US cows injected with growth hormone contains mastitis-related pus. Though these cows produce huge quantities of milk, they are sick, suffering and dying long before their time.

What is the message I took home from the lecture? GE/GMO foods have no reason for being other than to sell chemicals. Test animals are dying and it is not unreasonable to ask whether people are dying too. Still, our governments steadfastly refuse to answer this question honestly.

What can we do?

Buy local. We are so lucky to be able to buy GMO-free fresh fruits, vegetables, red meat, poultry and fish in our valley. If you are going to buy prepared foods, buy organic ones.

Get involved. The right of citizens in over fifty BC communities to ban GE/GMO foods has been upheld by the Supreme Court of Canada. Check out the Canadian Biotechnology Action Network at http://www.cban.ca/

I would love to see this slogan at the entrance to our community:

Welcome to Pemberton –  proud member of the association of Sea to Sky corridor GE/GMO-free communities.