California’s legislature and state agencies are failing to address risks from genetically engineered (GE) crops and food, according to a report released today by the Center for Food Safety. The California Food and Agriculture Report Card: Genetic Engineering is the first-of-its-kind evaluation of the response of the state legislature, regulatory agencies, and food corporations to concerns around GE crops and food. The Report Card finds that California has virtually no rules to protect the public or the state’s vital agricultural sector from the economic, environmental, and health risks of experimental or commercially grown GE crops.
California farmers currently grow 750,000 acres of GE crops, primarily corn and cotton. California also ranks fourth among all states in GE field trials, with experimental plots of all of the state’s key crops currently planted. As the federal government has largely deregulated GE crops, several states are developing their own regulations, including many states that have laws to protect farmers and the farm economy. But California has no such laws, and only a single protective bill has passed regulating genetic engineering in the state. In addition to this legislative failure, the Report Card released today gives failing grades to the three of the four state regulatory agencies that have authority over areas relating to GE crops, as none have taken steps to regulate the many experimental GE fields currently planted in the state.
“We took a hard look at the state’s role in the food and agriculture industries, and unfortunately we found that when it comes to genetically engineered crops and food, California is not making the grade,” said Rebecca Spector, West Coast Director of the Center for Food Safety (CFS) and co-author of the Report Card. “This technology poses serious risks to farmers, our farm economy, our wild lands and waters, and to California consumers, yet California’s government has not even considered many regulations that other states have implemented.”
“Contamination from genetically engineered crops and seeds has been scientifically proven and is inevitable,” said Dr. David Schubert, professor of molecular biology at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, a leading genetics and plant biology research center in San Diego. “GE crops have contaminated food crops and products through pollen drift, seed mixing and other unintended means. This Report Card exposes the California government’s failure to address the real risks of GE crops and their impact on California farmers, food processors, and the public.”
Organic and conventional food producers in California in particular are at risk of massive market rejection as more GE crops are grown in the state. Farmers and food producers in California face increased costs and potential losses when their products are contaminated by GE varieties. “California’s farm and food economy is too important to leave vulnerable to this unregulated technology,” said CFS Executive Director Andrew Kimbrell. “The state must create strong rules to insure that farmers and food makers who produce safe, natural foods are not harmed by uncontrolled GE crops.”
The CFS California Food and Agriculture Report Card: Genetic Engineering is the first in a series of report cards the nonprofit group is producing on the sustainability of California’s food production systems.
Summary of Report Card Findings
California Legislature:
Assembly (Grade: D): The Assembly received failing grades for public accountability (having held just one hearing on GE issues in the past five years) and failure to pass any GE food labeling laws.
Senate (Grade: C+): The Senate also receives low marks for accountability (just two hearings in the past five years). The Senate created a task force on food biotechnology in 2000, but did not ask for policy recommendations from the panel. A Senate bill to protect California waterways from GE fish was enacted in 2003, and a bill on labeling GE food in school lunches passed both houses in 2000, but was vetoed by the Governor.
California State Regulatory Agencies:
California Department of Food and Agriculture (Grade: D): CDFA received failing grades for deferring oversight of GE field trials to federal regulators, who historically have monitored just 10% of all field trials, and who do not monitor for contamination. The agency also fails to review commercialized GE crops for risks unique to California.
California Environmental Protection Agency (Grade: F): CAL/EPA received a failing grade as it is mandated to regulate pesticide-producing GE crops, but has failed to do so. It is not addressing risks to non-target species, insect resistance, increased herbicide use, or other well-established concerns about GE crops. The agency has also failed to assess risks from field trials of GE “pharm” crops, plants that produce untested drugs.
California Department of Health Services (Grade: D): CDHS received failing grades for its failure to assess health risks from GE foods, including potential contamination from open-fields of pharm crops.
California Department of Fish & Game (Grade: C): CDFA received passing marks for implementing a moratorium on GE fish in California, but low marks for failing to assess or investigate impacts of GE crops on wildlife in California.
California Food Corporations:
Retailers (Grade: C): Many major retailers have not taken steps to label or eliminate GE ingredients in their store brands, although three national retailers have done so.
Conventional Food Manufacturers (Grade: D-): Most conventional food makers use GE ingredients and do not label their GE products, even though most have eliminated GE foods for their European markets.
Natural and Organic Food Producers (Grade: A): Many natural and organic companies based in California avoid GE ingredients and many label their non-GE products.
Click here to view the entire California Food and Agriculture Report Card: Genetic Engineering
