Flavr Savr Tomato
The world's first commercialized GM crop was a flop. Calgene's Flavr Savr tomato was genetically modified so they could be picked when ripe and transported without bruising, promising a longer shelf life and better taste. USDA and FDA approved the product without scientific evidence that it was safe for human consumption, and it was sold beginning in 1994. The tomato was withdrawn from the market by 1997 out of safety concerns (studies showed the GM tomato potentially caused stomach lesions), flavor (not better than conventional tomatoes), and their tendency to bruise.
http://www.foei.org/publications/gmo/index.html
www.soilassociation.org
NewLeaf Bt Potatoes
Monsanto's NewLeaf Bt potatoes were planted in Georgia despite protests--but the crop failed, leading to commercial losses and debts for the farmers who cultivated them. The 1996 harvest was as low as 8 tons per hectare for some farmers, instead of the estimated 18-22 tons per hectare.
www.greens.ge
www.zsfoe.org
Golden Rice
With the development of "golden rice" in 1999, the biotech industry hoped to win public support by convincing leaders and the public that GM crops were needed to feed the world and overcome malnutrition in developing countries. The rice was engineered to produce beta-carotene, which the body converts to Vitamin A, to battle a rampant condition of Vitamin A deficiency in developing countries. However, the body also needs zinc, protein and fats to absorb the beta carotene, and even with these components, a woman would need to eat 16 pounds of cooked rice every day to obtain sufficient Vitamin A.
www.foe.org/camps/comm/safefood/gefood/factsheets/
ricefacts.html
www.grain.org
Kenya Sweet Potato
Monsanto, with additional funding from USAID and the World Bank, engineered an unpopular variety of sweet potato (out of 89 different varieties in Africa) to be virus-resistant. The GM crop's proponents claimed an increase in yields from 4 tonnes per hectare to 10--though regular yields in fact average from 9 to 10 tonnes. Meanwhile with a small budget (compared to $16 million for developing the GM potato) aconventional breeding program in Uganda was able 'to produce a new, high-yielding resistant variety in just a few years at a small cost that... raised yields by roughly 100%.' At the end of the three-year trials in January 2004, the GM sweet potato produced less yields than the non-GM, and was in fact more susceptible to virus attack--what it was engineered to avoid.
GM Crops and Sustainable Poverty Alleviation in Sub-Saharan Africa: An Assessment of Current Evidence http://www.twnafrica.org/docs/GMCropsAfrica.pdf
http://www.gmwatch.org/profile1.asp?PrId=131
Bt Cotton in Indonesia
Monsanto's Bt cotton entered South Sulawesi, Indonesia in 2001 promising farmers higher yields and less need for pesticide. Instead, a drought led to a pest population explosion on Bt cotton, though not on other cotton varieties. As a result, instead of reducing pesticide use, farmers had to use a different mix and larger amounts of pesticides to control the pests. Furthermore, the Bt cotton - engineered to be resistant to a pest that is not a major problem in Sulawesi - was susceptible to other more serious pests. The average yield was only 1.1 ton per hectare (instead of promised 3-7 tons), with some fields experiencing total harvest failure. Some 70% of the 4,438 farmers growing Bt cotton were unable to repay their credit after the first year of planting. To make matters worse, the company unilaterally raised the price of the seeds.
http://www.i-sis.org.uk/BrokenPromises.php
Bt Cotton in India
Bt cotton did not live up to Monsanto's promises in India. Beginning in 2002, farmers bought and planted the seed with the promises of saving money on chemical use and receiving higher yields--neither of which ended up true. Several regions in India declared Bt cotton a complete failure.
http://www.greenpeaceindia.org/relatedstories.php?campid=12&camptype=subcamp
http://www.ipsnews.net/interna.asp?idnews=16121
http://www.biotech-info.net/bt_failure.html
GE-Scape: Contamination Events
StarLink
StarLink is a variety of GM maize authorized in the US only for animal feed purposes due to the potential allergenicity of the protein Cry9C engineered into the maize. In 2000, Friends of the Earth discovered StarLink in Taco Bell taco shells, and more than 300 corn products were recalled in the US. Food shipments to Japan and South Korea led to recalls there as well, but StarLink was discovered again in Japan in December 2002, and in food aid to Bolivia. The yellow corn contaminated more than the .4% of US corn acres on which it was planted, 80 varieties of corn seed, and even a white corn product.
www.foe.org/camps/comm/safefood/gefood/index.html
Maize in Mexico
In 2001, GM maize was reported to have contaminated traditional maize varieties in two Mexican states; local community organizations later reported contamination in seven additional states, including by StarLink maize. It is illegal to cultivate GM maize in Mexico. The suspected source of contamination is the United States, since it exports large quantities of maize to Mexico.
www.etc.org
Pharmcrops
In November 2002, ProdiGene's maize genetically engineered to contain pharmaceuticals and industrial products was the first significant case of biopharmaceutical contamination. Planted in 2002, some seed remained in the ground and "volunteer" seeds sprouted in a soy crop the following year. The GE maize was subsequently discovered mixed in with the harvested soy at a grain elevator in Nebraska. 500,000 tons of soy were quarantined by the USDA and destroyed.
www.foe.org/camps/comm/safefood/gefood/index.html
Argentina's RoundUp Ready Soy
Monsanto's herbicide (glyphosate) -resistant soy, introduced in Argentina in the mid-1990s, quickly became a popular means to practice no-till farming for farmers desperate for foreign exchange in the country's unstable economy. However, in recent years soy farmers have turned to using highly potent herbicides to combat the proliferation of weeds that are naturally resistant to glyphosate and "volunteer" GE soy plants that have become a weed problem. This heavy herbicide use has affected neighboring farms, causing human health problems, death of farm animals, and crop damage. Some of the other problems associated with the GE soy include loss of soil fertility, deforestation, and flooding, as well as displacement of small farmers and farm laborers.
Benbrook, Charles M."Troubled Times Amid Commercial Success for Roundup Ready Soybeans: Glyphosate Efficacy is Slipping and Unstable Transgene Expression Erodes Defenses and Yields." Northwest Science and Environment Policy Center, May 3, 2001.
http://www.biotech-info.net/troubledtimes.html
Branford, Sue: "Argentina's bitter harvest." New Scientist, April 17, 2004. http://www.newscientist.com
Food Aid
In 2003, the United States had 65 million tons of surplus non-GM wheat and rice in its Food Cooperation stocks. Paradoxically, just a year before the US sent India a large shipment of food aid with genetically modified ingredients, which India rejected. The US again in 2003 declined to certify its aid as StarLink-free. The cases of dumping genetically engineered crops as food aid are many, with countries often refusing the aid, as in the following cases:
Ecuador: 2000, soy from the World Food Program (WFP) was genetically engineered though food programs forbid GM ingredients in food aid. Ecuadorian authorities destroy the product.
Bolivia: 2001, GM ingredients in food aid sent by the US Agency for International Development (USAID), in violation of the moratorium on GM food. 2002, StarLink (not approved for human consumption in US) found in US food aid, despite promises by the US in 2000 that no GM maize would enter food aid.
Colombia: 2001, GM food found in US food aid, with levels as high as 90%. The GM soy was withdrawn from food aid programs aimed at children.
Nicaragua: 2002, seed samples donated by Germany via WFP test positive for GMO content as high as 3.8%, higher than allowed in Germany, despite WFP's declaration against distributing food deemed unacceptable by the citizens of either donor or recipient country.
Guatemala: 2002, GM corn seed from the WFP, despite statements earlier in the year that all food given by WFP is certified to not allow GM products.
Uganda: 2001, corn soy blend as part of a US "food for peace" agreement, forbidden to enter because it was not labeled with ingredients, manufacturers, or instructions for use.
Bosnia: 2001, authorities questioned possible effects of donated US corn on humans and animals, and with no reply, the US withdrew a $4 million 40,000 tonne donation of GE corn for animal feed.
www.foei.org/publications/pdfs/playing_with_hunger2.pdf
www.grain.org
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