The shelves of a major North American grocery chain will soon be wiped clear of genetically engineered food, providing crucial ammunition to Canadians demanding retailers like IGA and Loblaws label or remove GE food from their stores.
“They say it’s impossible, that it’s too expensive and it will confuse consumers, but Trader Joe’s making this commitment shows it is clearly possible to remove GE from stores in North America,” said Pat Venditti of Greenpeace.
Trader Joe’s, a U.S. chain of more than 200 grocery stores operating in 15 states, has vowed to make its house brand GE-free in one year. The house brand is analogous to Canadian brands like President’s Choice or No Name and accounts for 85 per cent of Trader Joe’s sales.
Venditti says a major chain reaction is triggered when a large retailer stops selling GE food. When the packagers of the food receive word that GE food is being phased out, they have to comply or risk losing shelf space. They in turn pass along directions to their farmers not to plant GE crops next year.
“It couldn’t happen in a week, but certainly in a season or two it’s possible to remove GE foods,” he said, adding he has letters from European grocery chains saying the change can be made without increased costs to consumers or producers.
Loblaws, Canada’s largest grocery chain, refused an interview on genetic engineering and instead issued a brief statement saying the company supports voluntary labelling of genetically engineered products.
“Canadians have one of the safest, most wholesome and nutritious food supplies in the world,” the letter begins. “Loblaws Supermarkets carry only biotechnology products which have been approved by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. Since they are considered safe, no labelling of these food products is required by law.”
The letter goes on to say “we very much support your right to information about where your food comes from” and refers consumers to information from “displays, sampling, point-of-sale and suppliers’ 1-800 numbers.” It also lists the Health Canada Web site and that of the International Food Information Council.
Despite these safety assurances from grocery stores and government, national surveys have consistently found that 90 per cent of Canadians want the food labelled and two-thirds would not buy the products were they given the choice. It was this consumer pressure, coupled with an aggressive campaign by Greenpeace targetting Trader Joe’s, which eventually led to the new policy. Venditti says this fits with the European model, where it took a few grocery chains to shift policy before governments decided to institute mandatory labeling.
Greenpeace, along with other organizations like watchdog group the Council of Canadians, plan to continue their pressure on Loblaws to remove GE products or enact mandatory labeling.
Genetically engineered crops and the environment
While public health concerns surrounding the lack of long-term testing of genetically engineered foods are reasonably well known, environmentalists worry most people are not aware of the major effects these products could have on the environment. Their concerns include:
Pesticide use: Most genetically engineered plants contain DNA from pesticides, which makes them resistant to strong pesticides that would kill non-GE plants. There are concerns that because of the strength of these pesticides they will have negative effects on plant and animal life over the long-term as they leach into the soil and waterways.
Super pests: Because of their strong pesticide resistance, these crops have been shown to take a large amount of pesticide to kill. Were they to overproduce to an extent that they needed to be controlled it would be difficult to stop them without applying such a large amount of pesticide that it could have serious environmental effects.
Crop diversity: In many areas crops have developed to suit particular conditions. Mexico has multiple strains of corn that have developed over thousands of years, and each of these are better resistant to certain pests and better equipped to grow in certain climates. This diversity provides a stable ecosystem and food supply which could be threatened by GE crops cross-pollinating and eliminating crop diversity.
Testing: Environmentalists are also concerned that genetically engineered crops are not tested in closed environments, but rather in open fields, further increasing the chance experimental crops could make their way into the natural environment.
They are also worried about lack of long-term testing on the effects these products have on ecology and public health.
