On Saturday, April third, World-Renowned Environmentalists & Activists Andrew Kimbrell and Vandana Shiva Discussed Genetically Engineered Eggplant Moratorium in India and upcoming U.S. Supreme Court case on GE Alfalfa in Washington, DC at Busboys and Poets.

Saturday’s conversation,“Global Perspectives on Genetically Engineered Foods,” was co-sponsored by the Center for Food Safety and Institute for Policy Studies. Shiva and Andrew Kimbrell, an American public-interest attorney and food activist, discussed genetically engineered foods and their status and proliferation throughout the world.

They discussed chemical and seed companies’ efforts to create climate resilient seeds that can thrive in droughts and salty soil through genetic engineering. However, Shiva said these seeds already exist and have been created by farmers through natural breeding techniques. These companies have used these seeds to screen for common traits and now have “530 patents on climate-resilient traits by stealing common resources from people,” according to Shiva.

Kimbrell and Shiva spoke to a full house of about 100 people, comparing U.S. and Indian biotechnology policies. India takes a precautionary, regulated approach that is far ahead of the United States’ deregulated approach that does not even require labeling, Kimbrell said. 

“We don’t have labeling [in the United States] because no one wakes up in the morning wanting to buy GM [genetically modified] food,” Kimbrell said.

Because there is no benefit to the consumer, only risk, when people have the information to make a conscious choice between non-GM foods and GM foods, people avoid the GM foods. In India, the environment minister recently listened to the overwhelming will of the Indian people by placing a moratorium on a form of GM eggplant.

“If democracy wins, GMOs are out,” Shiva said. “If GMOs are pushed on people, democracy is out.”

Kimbrell analyzed a somewhat similar debate going on in the United States over GM alfalfa. On April 27, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear an appeal of lower courts’ decisions to halt the sale and planting of GM alfalfa until the U.S. Department of Agriculture complied with environmental protection laws. The case will have wide-reaching implications for environmental protection. Seed company Monsanto is contending that the environmental harm must be certain or ongoing before a court grants an injunction against practices determined to be illegal.

Because of the overwhelming corporate influence on U.S. legislation and regulations, Kimbrell said he believes the United States is more of a corporate oligarchy than a democracy.

Visit our You Tube channel to see Andrew Kimbrell speaking about genetic engineering.