Parents Call On AISD and the Texas Education Agency
To Remove Genetically Engineered Foods from School Lunches

For Immediate Release
October 15, 2003
Contact:
Jeffrey Smith (641) 919-4900 Author
Dr. Neil Carman (512) 472-1767 Sierra Club
Luke Metzger (512) 479-7287 TXPIRG

New Evidence Shows Food Endangers Health-Especially for Children

(Austin, Texas) In light of alarming new evidence pointing to potential dangers to children by genetically engineered foods, a group of concerned parents gathered today before the headquarters of the Austin Independent School District (AISD) to call for a removal of the foods from the school meal program-both locally and statewide. A new book, Seeds of Deception: Exposing Industry and Government Lies About the Safety of the Genetically Engineered Foods You're Eating, presents overwhelming evidence documenting serious health dangers associated with these altered foods that Americans eat everyday.

"While we're in the process of removing junk foods from our schools, we should also be removing the even more dangerous junk biotech foods from our kids' lunch trays," said Eduardo Longoria, a parent of a three and a half year old in the district.

Children are at greatest risk from the potential dangers of genetically engineered foods. Their rapidly developing bodies will be more influenced by the potential toxins and nutritional differences associated with these foods. Children are also more susceptible to potential allergic reactions and the effect of increased hormones in milk from cows treated with a genetically engineered growth hormone (rbGH).

According to Seeds of Deception author Jeffrey M. Smith, "Internal documents made public by a lawsuit reveal that the FDA's own scientists warned that genetically engineered foods could lead to unpredictable toxins, allergies, and new diseases. We need to take immediate action to protect our children from these dangers."

Having AISD and the Texas Education Agency take action on genetic engineering would not be without precedent. Schools throughout the UK and parts of Europe banned genetically engineered food years ago. In the 1990s, many Parent and Teacher Associations (PTAs) in the U.S. rallied against rbGH and more than a hundred school districts banned milk from rbGH-treated cows.

Smith, who founded the Institute for Responsible Technology, presented copies of his new book to the AISD Board of Trustees and called on them to conduct an immediate review of the potential threats that genetically engineered foods in school lunches may pose to school children. They also asked the school district to report on the dangers of these foods to parents, who can take steps to avoid them at home.

Genetically engineered foods are created by inserting genes from other species into their DNA. Engineered foods in the U.S. include soy, corn, cottonseed oil, canola oil, and dairy from cows treated with a genetically engineered hormone, among others.

Maize Rage in Mexico

ETC Group
Genotypes
October 10, 2003
www.etcgroup.org

GM maize contamination in Mexico - 2 years later

Twenty-five months after the first scientific evidence became public, the Mexican government and the scientific community have acknowledged that Mexico's traditional maize crop is contaminated with DNA from genetically modified (GM) maize despite a government prohibition on the planting of GM seeds in Mexico. Mexico is the centre of origin for maize - one of the world's most important food crops.

Yesterday, peasant farmers and indigenous communities along with civil society organizations in Mexico publicly released the results of their own testing that found GM contamination of native maize in at least nine states - far more serious and widespread than previously assumed. (1) For a detailed report of their findings (soon be available in English) see: http://www.etcgroup.org/article.asp?newsid=407 and http://www.etcgroup.org/article.asp?newsid=408

No fewer than four government-sponsored studies have been undertaken in Mexico over the past two years to determine whether or not transgenes are present in native maize (see details below). Although none of the studies has yet been published, each study found varying levels of contamination in two or more states. But acknowledgment of gene flow has not come with a clear plan of action to address contamination and to prevent it from continuing. Neither is there a plan to protect vital national and international collections of crop germplasm stored in gene banks in Mexico and elsewhere.

Given the appalling lack of action and follow-through by the Mexican government, international plant breeding institutes and the multinational Gene Giants, the true creators and custodians of maize decided to take matters into their own hands. At a news conference yesterday in Mexico City, indigenous and peasant farmer communities in Mexico joined with civil society organizations, including ETC Group, to announce the results of genetic testing of maize grown by traditional farmers in 138 communities. The results show that contamination has spread to farmers' fields in nine states, including Chihuahua, Morelos, Durango, Estado de Mexico, Puebla, Oaxaca, San Luis Potosi, Tlaxcala and Veracruz.

Of 2,000 maize plants tested, samples from 33 communities in nine Mexican states tested positive for contamination. In some cases as many as four GM traits, all patented by multinational Gene Giants, were found in a single plant. The organizations were especially alarmed to find traces of the insecticidal toxin (Cry9c), the engineered trait found in StarLink maize (formerly sold by Aventis CropScience). StarLink was never approved by the US government for human consumption because of concerns it could trigger allergic reactions. Illegal traces of StarLink were found in US food products in 2000. Following a massive recall of tainted food products in the US, Aventis withdrew StarLink from the market. Apparently, StarLink sought asylum in Mexico.

Baldemar Mendoza, an indigenous farmer from Oaxaca, said at yesterday's news conference that people had come to his community to tell them that they needn't worry about GM contamination because transgenic crops have been available in some countries for six or seven years and there is no evidence that GM crops are harmful to health. "But we have our own evidence," asserts Mendoza. "We have 10,000 years of evidence that our maize is good for our health. To contaminate it with transgenics is a crime against all indigenous peoples and farming communities who have safeguarded maize over millennia for the benefit of humankind."

The coalition of indigenous communities, farmer and civil society organizations demanded that the Mexican government make public the results of all studies on GM contamination, stop all imports of transgenic maize, continue its moratorium on the cultivation of transgenic maize, and scrap the flawed "biosafety" bill crafted by biotech proponents, which is now under discussion in Congress.

Safe Contamination? At events leading up to today's news conference, many Mexican government officials and scientists acknowledged contamination, but insisted that it wasn't a problem.

On September 7th Mexico's newly-appointed Minister of the Environment, Alberto C·rdenas told the Global Biodiversity Forum in Canc™n that there is no doubt that GM contamination in Mexico is real but he insisted there is no harm to native maize biodiversity or to public health. The Minister offered no specific information on contamination levels, nor did he provide evidence supporting his claim that public health and the environment had not been compromised.

At a conference held September 29-30 in Mexico City, academics, and government officials confirmed -and even Gene Giant corporations accepted- that there has been a "flow" (contamination) of GM traits into traditional maize varieties in at least two states. The conference, titled "Gene Flow: What Does It Mean for Biodiversity and Centers of Origin," was organized by the Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology (PIFB) and the U.S.-Mexico Foundation for Science (FUMEC). www.maizegeneflow.org.

At the conference, Klaus Amman, Director of the University of Bern's Botanical Garden (Switzerland), argued that there are no known environmental impacts of transgenic gene flow. Amman cited data from Novartis (one of the Gene Giants - now Syngenta) showing that under field conditions genetically engineered Bt maize posed minimal risk to Monarch butterflies in the United States. Jorge SoberÛn, the director of Mexico's National Commission on Biodiversity (CONABIO) pointed out that a comparison between field conditions in the US and those in mega-diverse Mexico may not be relevant. He noted that the USA has around 60 butterfly species whereas Mexico has more than 2,000. In the meeting, SoberÛn called for a strict application of the precautionary principle.

A representative of the Mexican Ministry of Agriculture, Dr. Victor Villalobos, recently described the GM contamination in Oaxaca as "a natural laboratory" to study the effects of gene flow, and he complacently urged that the moratorium on the planting of GM maize be lifted. (2)

"It is exasperating that many scientists refused to take action on gene flow for more than two years, insisting that they required stronger scientific evidence," said Silvia Ribeiro of ETC Group. "Now those same scientists admit gene flow but are claiming - in the total absence of scientific proof - that gene flow poses no threat to biodiversity or to people. Using Mexico and its people as guinea pigs is good science?"

Studies Concur

According to Ezequiel Ezcurra, the director of Mexico's National Institute of Ecology of the Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources, four government-sponsored studies have been undertaken in the past two years to determine whether or not transgenes are present in maize in Mexico. Although none of the studies has yet been published, Ezcurra stated that each study found varying levels of contamination in two or more states:

The studies corroborate the independent findings of two University of California (Berkeley) researchers who first reported their conclusions in Nature in September 2001. In an unprecedented move, the editor of Nature later disavowed the Berkeley scientists' peer-reviewed report in his own journal.

Traveling transgenes are a global problem, not one confined to maize in Mexico. Among others, GM contamination of traditional varieties of cotton in Greece,(3) canola (rapeseed) in Canada,(4) soy in Italy,(5) papaya in Hawaii have been reported.(6)

International Action Needed: In February 2002 La Via Campesina (the international organization of small farmers) and several hundred other civil society organizations worldwide joined forces to call upon the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and CGIAR (Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research) to address the issue. Although FAO has expressed concern, it has only been in touch with CIMMYT (International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre), the CGIAR institute in Mexico, which has global responsibility for maize breeding and for the world's most important maize gene bank. CGIAR has refused to take decisive action until they are convinced there is solid scientific proof of contamination. However, CIMMYT did decide to halt its maize collection program in the region for fear that it could inadvertently introduce GM traits into its gene bank, and began to test for the presence of transgenes in its seed collection.

At yesterday's press conference in Mexico City, indigenous people and small farmers described CIMMYT's failure to acknowledge and take action on the contamination of traditional maize as "deplorable," and urged that responsibility for the CIMMYT gene bank as well as other banks in the CGIAR network be surrendered to an intergovernmental body such as FAO, under conditions that will make it more responsive to the concerns of small farmers and indigenous people. The group also condemned the Convention on Biological Diversity for its failure to effectively address GM contamination in centers of genetic diversity.

Next Steps

The long-term impacts of GM contamination on crop genetic diversity are not known. Neither governments nor international institutions have taken action to stop GM contamination and to protect farmers and indigenous peoples' livelihoods. In February 2002 hundreds of civil society organizations called for a moratorium on the shipment of GM seed or grain in countries or regions that form part of the center of genetic diversity for the species. The communities and CSOs meeting yesterday in Mexico City repeated demands for a global moratorium.

ETC Group believes that a number of issues urgently require further study. Most obviously, studies are needed to determine the impact of GM contamination on traditional maize varieties in Mexico, not only looking at the traits that are currently contaminating the crop but also consider future introductions that might include traits for industrial or pharmaceutical compounds. Most importantly, we need to understand not only how to prevent further contamination but whether or not it is possible to de-contaminate without further harming diversity. Peasant farmers throughout the world, those who hold intimate knowledge of local farming systems and crop diversity, are the only ones capable of undertaking the task, but must have the support of the international community in this process. Globally, there is a pressing need to study more broadly the impacts of gene flow, which are already affecting other crops and regions. Most urgently, FAO and CGIAR need a specific strategy and procedure to ensure that gene bank accessions are protected from contamination and that the vitally important exchange of genetic resources between gene banks and breeders is not imperiled by concerns about contamination. Because all GM traits are patented, the intellectual property implications of accidental contamination and dissemination should also be studied. Until the studies can be completed and evaluated by farmers' organizations and the international community, existing national moratoria on GM crops should remain in place. These issues should be discussed at the next meeting of the FAO Commission on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture and at the FAO Conference in November.

Endnotes

1. The document released yesterday is a collective effort prepared by indigenous communities and peasant farmers from Oaxaca, Puebla, Chihuahua, Veracruz and CECCAM - Centro de Estudios para el Cambio en el Campo Mexicano, CENAMI - Centro Nacional de Apoyo a Misiones Indìgenas, Grupo ETC - Grupo de Acciôn sobre Erosiôn, Tecnologìa y Concentraciôn, CASIFOP - Centro de An·lisis Social, Informaciôn y Formaciôn Popular, AJAGI - Asociaciôn Jaliscience de Apoyo a Grupos Indìgenas, UNOSJO - Uniôn de Organizaciones de la Sierra Ju·rez de Oaxaca.
2. Lourdes Rudino, "Aprueban experimentos con maiz transgenico - Tiene SAGARPA 'laboratorio natural' en Oaxaca," El Financiero, October 3, 2003.
3. Dina Kyriakidou, "Greece to further test, destroy any GM cotton crops," July 4, 2000, Reuters News Service. Available on the Internet: http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=7343
4. See www.percyschmeiser.com
5. David Brough, "Italy police seize more Monsanto seed in raid," April 10, 2001, Reuters News Service. Available on the Internet: http://www.mindfully.org/GE/GE2/Italy-Seizes-Monsanto.htm
6. Greenpeace, "Genetically Engineered (GE) Papaya -- Unknown Plant," June 2003. http://www.greenpeace.org/

top of page