The plant biotechnology industry feels it is making headway polishing the tarnished image of genetically modified crops by focusing on sustainability.
“I think those messages are starting to get through and starting to become more mainstream,” said Peter MacLeod, vice-president of chemistry with CropLife Canada. “You’re hearing it from areas like the Food and Agriculture Organization, global bodies and global experts on food.”
CropLife Canada recently released We Stand for Sustainability,a publication detailing how its member companies are ensuring a prosperous future.
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“We’ve got a very positive story to tell,” MacLeod said.
The document outlines how pesticides and GM crops are responding to the global challenges of food security, nutrition, water shortages, climate change and increased demands for energy made from nonrenewable resources.
It also claims that the adoption of GM crops increased Canadian farm incomes by $1.6 billion between 1996 and 2007.
However, National Farmers Union executive director Kevin Wipf disagreed. He said that all GM crops have done is put more money and control in the hands of technology developers.
“If that is their definition of prosperity and having a healthy agriculture system in Canada, then it is bizarre to us.”
Wipf said net farm income continues to fall, partly because farmers are diverting profits to seed companies.
“We’ve gone into these technologies big time and we’re actually in the middle of a farm (income) crisis.”
He also took exception to biotech companies portraying themselves as saviours of the environment.
“GM canola is now a weed. Nobody can kill it. It is showing up in almost every field.”
The industry’s inability to contain the GM crops they develop is leading to trade issues that are having a dramatic impact on farmers, he said.
