The March 14 article in Time Magazine, When Organic Isn’t Really Organic by Jyoti Thottam begins “When you buy a gallon of organic milk, you expect to get tasty milk from happy cows who haven’t been subjected to antibiotics, hormones or pesticides. But you might also unknowingly be getting genetically modified cattle feed.” Read the entire article here.
By telling us loud and clear which products are GM-free, organic-food producers could give consumers one more reason to choose organic.
This is an important missing piece in public understanding of the organic food puzzle. We know synthetic hormones and pesticides in our food are not desirable and buy organic for that reason. We know organic farming practices are kinder to animals and the environment, and may buy organic for that reason.
But for most of us in the U.S., an understanding of the relationship between organic food production and the economic and safety concerns around growing genetically modified crops has been less clear.
This may be the opening needed to begin the discussion of whether we can take for granted that buying organic also means buying GM-free.
In 2004, a law requiring labeling of GM foods was passed in Europe, though no standards for a “GM-free” label were adopted. Read details in this 2004 posting on the law at Greenpeace.org.uk
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