Defending biotech

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The article [Jan. 4: “Boss GMO”] failed to highlight the tangible benefits of biotech seed research and production in Hawaii.

To imply that Hawaii’s seed farmers don’t contribute significantly to our state’s economy is inaccurate. The National Agricultural Statistics Service estimates the value of seed farm investment in Hawaii at a record $247 million. Farming operations result in millions of dollars worth of economic activity in other sectors including contract research organizations, input suppliers and equipment suppliers and utilities, creating a positive ripple effect throughout Hawaii’s economy.

Paul Achitoff asserts that Hawaii’s biotech seed industry employs only a small number of biotech specialists and a larger number of field workers. In fact, Hawaii’s biotech farmers employ nearly 2,000 residents, with the majority working in full-time professional jobs in management and administration and high-tech jobs in research and science. And our Hawaii seed farmers are growing crops to feed the world.

The latest Environmental Protection Agency report on pesticide sales and usage shows the total pounds of US pesticide use decreased by 8 percent from 2000 to 2007. Biotech crops and the farming methods employed to grow them undergo intense regulatory scrutiny to ensure they do not pose any environmental hazards.

The article wrongly suggests there are health and environmental risks associated with biotech crops. The public has consumed more than 3 trillion servings of biotech food for more than 15 years, and there is not a single documented case of illness because of this technology. The fact is the biotech industry is one of the most regulated industries in the US with oversight by agencies that include the USDA, FDA and EPA.

Furthermore… [m]ore than 12 million farmers use [biotech crops] and over 90 percent are from developing countries. Our residents need accurate facts so that they can understand the significant benefits this industry provides to Hawaii

Alicia Maluafiti,
Executive Director
Hawaii Crop Improvement Association

Obama administration wants to make (GMO) life even easier for Monsanto

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While activists have been pushing for years to have more oversight and more scientific analysis in the approval process for genetically modified organisms (GMOs), it looks like the Obama administration is moving in the other direction.

Michael Gregoire, a USDA deputy administrator, said today they are looking to streamline the approval process and cut the time it takes to get new biotech crops approved (currently about three years) in half.

Bloomberg reports:

Under the rule changes, new versions of existing crop technologies, such as corn that produces a naturally occurring pesticide, would undergo a review lasting about 13 months, Gregoire said. That would be accomplished by making the agency’s determination final after a 30-day public review period, he said.

For new technologies, such as a crops engineered to tolerate a new herbicide, there will be a second comment period after the agency makes its preliminary decision, extending the overall duration of the review to about 16 months, he said.

And in a time of budget cuts for everyone from toddlers to grannies, somehow the USDA has gotten more money for its Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) budget for biotech regulation  - almost a 50% increase, to $18 million, which should also let them rush things through even quicker. Monsanto does seem to have a lot of friends in Washington.

There are currently 22 biotech crops under review. Thirteen of those are modified for herbicide resistance, such as Dow Chemical’s corn that is resistant to the herbicide 2,4-D (one of the main ingredients in Agent Orange, used during the Vietnam War); today the USDA gave in to pressure from the Center for Food Safety and extended the public input period until April.

Currently, the USDA waits until the end of the process to seek public input, which means there’s a last-minute rush. Gregoire says they’ll now look for public input from the very beginning of the process so they’ll be better able to address concerns.

Of course, it’s more likely they’ll continue to ignore us, as they’ve done in every case so far. That’s how Bill Freese at the Center for Food Safety sees it, anyway. “They are trying to work the system so they can dismiss public comments more quickly and easily in order to speed things up,” Freese told Bloomberg.com. “It’s a rubber-stamp system.”

If there was one thing we didn’t really need, it was to make it easier for big chemical companies to ram through inadequately tested agricultural products that encourage the rampant use of pesticides. But that’s what we’re getting.

Monsanto already dominates US agriculture, controlling 90 percent or more of the seeds for corn, soybeans, cotton, and sugar beets.