The GM alfalfa grass saga continues ... [1]
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has long maintained
that GM crops can co-exist with conventional and organic agriculture. To keep GMOs in the field where they've been
planted, all that's needed is for neighbouring farmers to sort things out
between themselves, follow "best management practice", and sue each
other if things go wrong.
But, GM alfalfa, is blowing that narrative apart.
A USDA study published at the end of 2015 starts "The
potential environment risks of transgene exposure are not clear for alfalfa
...", and goes on to describe how a tiny amount of GM alfalfa cultivation
(5% in 2006 and declining in the following five years) has already led to some
well-established stands of GM alfalfa outside the fields. The 'feral' grass is 'Roundup Ready' i.e.
it's tolerant to glyphosate-based herbicides.
Alfalfa is a perennial grass, usually grown for two to five
years to produce hay, or two years for seed.
Some areas have planted it on road-sides to control erosion.
The grass isn't native to America and interactions with
local flora and fauna aren't known.
Despite the concerns which temporarily halted GM alfalfa
planting in 2006, plus the production of a "voluminous" 2010
Environmental Impact Statement, and the restarting of planting in 2011,
"no studies have quantified the dispersal of the alfalfa GR (glyphosate-resistant)
transgene outside of cultivated fields."
That is, until now.
Scientists scouted 6,000 kilometers of rural road verges in
alfalfa-growing areas during 2011. In
all, 404 sites of feral alfalfa were located, 27% of which had GM plants.
From the locations and plant characteristics, it was
established that the GM alfalfa colonies were self-sustaining, having been
there for some years but with additional current-year pollen transfer. It's likely they were derived from spilled
seed during production of hay and seed, and during transportation. Neighbouring feral plants were well within
pollinator foraging range which for bees can be several kilometers. This suggests GM feral alfalfa could act as a
conduit to facilitate transgene flow.
It's also possible that GM alfalfa has been promoted in
areas which use glyphosate as an herbicide on roads, where the resistant plants
would be the only weeds to survive.
Alfalfa is the world's most important forage crop in terms
of economic value and US acreage grown.
Industry and regulators have short-sightedly focused on supporting the
co-existence of GM and non-GM alfalfa, not on controlling transgene flow. Already, alfalfa exporters have suffered many
millions of dollars in losses due to rejection of their shipments because of
transgenic contamination, and US hay prices have fallen as a result.
OUR COMMENT
Is GM alfalfa "already joining the roadside GM canola
which is always going to be there?" [3].
How much of the GM contamination comes from
cross-pollination from feral or cultivated GM alfalfa, or from inadvertent
mixing during harvest or storage, or from contamination of seed supplies isn't
known.
What's certain, however, is that now that GM alfalfa has
been re-approved, the situation will get out of control. And it will be in your food-chain.
Worryingly, there is scientific evidence indicating a
potential for consumer harm from glyphosate-tolerant GM plants, even if they haven't
been treated with, or accumulated, any of the herbicide [2].
The Soil Association recently reported a review published in the British Journal of
Nutrition showing that:
"organic milk and meat contain around 50% more beneficial omega-3 fatty acids than non-organic. In addition to organic milk and meat, the nutritional differences also apply to organic dairy like butter, cream, cheese and yoghurt."
Choosing organic
meat and dairy is the only way you can be sure to minimise your exposure to GM.
If you want your poultry, meat and dairy supplied from healthy,
non-GM fed animals, a good way to start is to demand such products are at least
labelled. Check out
Background
SOURCES
- Stephanie L. Greene, et al., 2015, Occurrence of transgenic Feral alfalfa (Medicago sativa subsp. sativeL.) in Alfalfa Seed Production Areas in the United States, PLOS, 23.12.15
- Bill Freese, New study finds genetically engineered alfalfa has gone wild, exposing failure of "coexistence" policy, Center for Food Safety, 13.01.16
- Ground-breaking new study finds clear nutritional differences between organic and non-organic milk and meat, https://www.soilassociation.org/resource-centre/press-releases/ground-breaking-new-study-finds-clear-nutritional-differences-between-organic-and-non-organic-milk-and-meat/, 16.02.16
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