Food security includes access to healthy, affordable food; it also includes knowing what is in the food we eat

New Democratic Party Member of Parliament Murray Rankin (Victoria) recently put forward a motion in the House of Commons calling for the mandatory labeling of food products containing ingredients that have been genetically modified. The New Democrats take the position that consumers have a right to know what they are buying, that labeling genetically modified foods will allow people to make their own choices.

Endorsements for the motion have have come from industry organizations, consumer advocacy groups, prominent environmentalists and food retailers that agree people have a right to know if they are consuming GMOs.

Genetically modified foods are foods produced from organisms that have had specific changes introduced into their DNA using the methods of genetic engineering [source: Wikipedia]. GMO or GE (genetically engineered) varieties of corn, soya, sugar beets and canola have become common local crops in Canada, while GE varieties of cottonseed oil, papaya, squash and milk products are imported from the USA into Canada, according to David Suzuki. Canada lags behind other nations in labelling these products, and there are concerns about their safety:

The safety of GMO foods is unproven and a growing body of research connects these foods with health concerns and environmental damage. For this reason, most developed nations have policies requiring mandatory labeling of GMO foods at the very least, and some have issued bans on GMO food production and imports. In Canada we do not. [David Suzuki]

Jean Crowder, Member of Parliament (NDP) for Nanaimo, writes in her food column that “food security includes access to healthy, affordable food; it also includes knowing what is in the food we eat.” The motion by her colleague Murray Rankin is included in a national food strategy recently introduced by New Democrats. “Everybody Eats” is a strategy for a whole food system—from fork to farm, from harvest to plate.

A group called the Canadian Biotechnology Action Network (CBAN) is calling on Health Canada to place a moratorium on approving new genetically modified (GM) foods, to re-evaluate the safety of GM foods already on the market, and to initiate a complete overhaul of the regulatory system. CBAN is concerned about a lack of scientific rigour in Canada’s regulatory system.

“Frankenstein foods”

The Vancouver Sun’s Randy Shore reports that demand for food free of genetically modified organisms is growing fast and nowhere stronger than in British Columbia:

The market share for organic groceries in B.C. is already double that of the rest of Canada, according to the Canada Organic Trade Association. Its 2013 market report found that two thirds of British Columbians buy organic foods each week and more than half of those surveyed said they want to avoid GMOs in their food. [Randy Shore, Vancouver Sun]

Much of the concern may be driven by deep distrust of corporate entities like Monsanto or Dupont or Syngenta—behemoths seen as being out of control:

What could have been a public relations coup for biotechnology with the promise to provide the world more nutritious, less expensive food using fewer resources has become a nasty fight driven by dislike of corporate power and fears of uncontrolled environmental and health effects. [Randy Shore, Vancouver Sun]

We speak with Jean Crowder, Member of Parliament for the Nanaimo riding.

motion by NDP to label GMO foods. Left-click to listen; right-click to save.

video

David Suzuki speaks out against genetically modified food (CBC Archives, April 20, 2013)