Kudos to the Vancouver Island community of Metchosin for bringing forth a resolution asking the provincial government to ban plants and animals produced by the use of genetic engineering.
The resolution, which was narrowly passed at the fall Union of B.C. Municipalities meeting, will require discussion and endorsement before it could wind its way to Ottawa. Whether Ottawa would do anything, especially since it claims genetically-engineered foods are safe and don't require special labelling, is another story.
The American industrial giant, Monsanto Company, well known for the herbicide glyphosate (sold as Roundup), produces the genetically modified soy beans that are planted by 90 per cent of American farmers, as well as genetically-modified corn that is in many store bought foods and is often fed to factory farm animals, even though the animal's stomach is not designed to be 100 per cent corn-fed.
Monsanto, which has been around for over 100 years, also brought the following into North America; DDT, saccharin, aspartame, Agent Orange, bovine growth hormone (given to cows to increase their milk production), and PCBs.
Do you not find it scary that many of the above are now banned because of health risks and yet were, at some stage, deemed to be safe? Some folks question if food "made in the USA" will one day be deemed unsafe as well.
If you are concerned about what you and your family are eating, do get in the know about genetically modified organisms (GMOs) by reading labels, by doing research and by writing letters.
Everyone can demand better labelling of foods sold in Canada, for without such labelling there is no way to trace and determine if the escalating rate of allergies is linked to GMOs.
Fortunately, organic foods are well labelled and there are many from which one can choose. Two highly recommended documentaries are: The World According to Monsanto (c. 2008) and Food Inc. (c. 2008).
Jean Wightman is a longtime South Delta resident and local environmentalist.
