[mobglob-discuss] Genetically engineered pollens contaminating organic farms

[Graeme Bacque]

Sep. 30, 2002. 01:00 AM  The Toronto Star

Modified pollen hits organic farms
Genetically altered strains spread by wind
By Alex Roslin
SPECIAL TO THE STAR

Biotech proponents said it couldn't happen. Critics warned it was just a
matter of time. Now the nightmare scenario of many farmers seems to have hit
Ontario.

Farmers in the province are reporting the first-ever cases of so-called
transgenic contamination — pollen from genetically engineered crops blowing
in the wind and contaminating natural crops in neighbouring farmers' fields.

"I was not ready for it. I feel such a wrath about it," says Alex Nurnberg,
an organic farmer hit this month by GM contamination at his 180-acre spread
near Ailsa Craig, a village northwest of London.

The cases raise questions about whether, in the rush to market new
genetically modified foods, the federal government and biotech companies
have sacrificed the genetic purity of traditional plants.

The questions are of growing importance as countries around the world move
to ban or severely restrict imports of genetically modified foods, cutting
off critical markets for Canadian farmers.

Nurnberg got a big surprise this month when tests found 15 to 20 tonnes of
his 100-tonne corn harvest had been contaminated by genetically modified
pollen, which he believes blew in from a neighbour's farm.

Nurnberg doesn't know the full financial cost of the contamination, but
organic corn sells for twice the price of regular corn because it is grown
under strictly controlled procedures. It must also be certified as being
free of GM contamination and pesticides. Tests to uncover the contamination
cost Nurnberg $1,000. Insurance won't cover his losses.

The incident is just the latest example of contamination to hit Ontario
farmers, said Larry Lenhardt, leading certifier of organic crops in the
province.

Lenhardt, CEO of Organic Crop Producers and Processors Ontario Inc., based
in Lindsay, says cases of contamination in Ontario first started popping up
in his company's tests "three or four years ago." Since then, he said he has
seen "a couple of cases a year.

"The GM farmer's property is trespassing on another farmer's. It's no
different from someone's Holstein cow going to visit someone else's farm,"
he said.

Lenhardt says many GM farmers ignore the risk to their neighbours when
planting genetically modified produce. Many don't tell neighbours what
they're growing.

"I think the grower of the modified crop grows it and damn the neighbour,"
he said.

Other contamination cases have sprung up across southern Ontario. Tom
Manley, owner of an organic grain processing company in Berwick, in eastern
Ontario, said he had to refuse to buy two different farmers' organic soya
crops last year because they tested positive for GM contamination.

"They had to sell it for half the price," he said. "The vendors (of GM
seeds) have downplayed the potential risk of contamination. They should
assume liability for that risk."

Federal officials and some farmers' groups downplay the concerns, saying
genetically modified crops are not a health danger and that the sturdy crops
help farmers deal with pesky bug infestations.

"To date (contamination) has not been an issue. We haven't seen any concern
on the part of the market about transgenic corn," said Brenda Cassidy,
spokesperson for the 21,000-member Ontario Corn Producers' Association.

Vern Greenshields, spokesperson for Agriculture Minister Lyle Vanclief, said
the federal government inspects corn farmers to make sure they follow
regulations, but acknowledged there are only four inspectors checking farms
in Quebec and Ontario, and no inspections in other provinces.

Greenshields said some contamination is inevitable and farmers can't expect
"total purity" in their crops. "The issues of the spread of pollen have been
studied. (The GM crops) are not released if there are health impacts," he
said.