FOOD takes center stage on OCT. 16 , WORLD FOOD DAY, 

designed to raise awareness about world wide hunger.  This

day also will focus attention on related issues such as the use

of genetic engineering (GE) and the Just Label It-We Have The 

Right To Know campaign to get the federal government to 

require the labeling of GE foods.

FACE OFF: GE VS ORGANIC

©Sam Fentress

     While we are busy living, working, playing, finding love, starting families, divorcing, eating and sleeping, the world  is changing, often in irrevocable ways. 

     One area that has changed dramatically is food production and the reason is genetic engineering. So pervasive is this new 

technology in conventional farming that as of 2010, most of the

leading crops grown in the U.S. were genetically modified to 

include: 93 percent of soy, 86 percent of corn, 93 percent of cotton, and 93 percent of canola seed. Next in line are sweet corn, alfalfa, and sugar beets. GE crops end up in processed foods, are fed to farm animals, and are sold to markets abroad.Depending on who is doing the talking, between 60 to 80 percent of the food sold in grocery stores contains GE ingredients. Yet most consumers are unaware of this.

     GE is a highly sophisticated science that involves the manipulation of the genetic makeup of an organism by introducing foreign DNA or synthetic genes. The aim is to remove or add a trait, or traits, that will make the organism "better."  As with any controversial science, there are supporters and critics. Supporters say its benefits include making food-bearing plants resistant to disease, climate change,  and insect infestations, thus boosting food production and reducing world hunger. But critics warn of its potential to create new allergens, toxins, weeds and harmful vegetation as well as promote mold and fungi. 

      ALTHOUGH the impact of GE on health and the environment is unclear given the absence of adequate testing, pervasive planting of GE crops has led to a greater rather than lesser use of pesticides. That's because weeds and pests have themselves developed greater resistance to toxins designed to kill them. As a result, farmers have seen their costs increase and the yields of their acres decline. Meanwhile, consumers are eating foods overly sprayed  with pesticides that no amount of washing is likely to remove since  some of the toxins are inevitably bound to be absorbed by the crops, much in the same way that human skin absorbs moisturizing creams, radiation, or anything else it is exposed to.

     GE also is impacting the vibrant and growing organic food industry which uses practices that help preserve soil health, maintain natural resources, and prevent environmental degradation. Techniques include crop rotation, green manure, compost and biological pest control. But agriculture is an open air industry. Wind-blown pollen from fields planted with GE crops is ending up in organic fields, contaminating organic crops (as well as heirloom seed stocks). There is nothing farmers can do to prevent this from happening.

      THE MARCH OF PROGRESS is inevitable and unstoppable. Yet when one considers that crops like corn have been on the planet for thousands of years, their DNA unchanged except through natural processes or, as man developed agriculture, through artificial selection (selective breeding), the idea of altering the very genetic makeup of organisms seems radical and scary. Even more disturbing is the fact that most foods that are genetically engineered, or products containing GE ingredients (GMOs) are not labeled as such. Thus, the vast majority of the public is in the dark.

      COUNTRIES like Europe, Japan, Australia and even China require GE labeling on all foods produced with GE ingredients. Not the United States of America. Which is where Just Label It-We Have  A Right To Know comes in. As part of this national campaign, a legal petition was filed with the Food and Drug Administration in late September calling on the agency to require the labeling of GE foods. "Without labeling of genetically engineered foods, we cannot make informed choices about the food we eat," according to Oregon Tilth, Inc., an organization that certifies organic products.  "We need to flood the FDA with comments from Americans from coast to coast let them know that we care. " 

      MEANWHILE, in California, the Organic Consumers Association is spearheading an initiative to get a minimum of 505,000 signatures to put the "Right2Know" GMO Labeling Act of 2012 on the ballot. If approved by voters, it would make California the first state in the nation with mandatory GMO labeling. OCA also is running a national campaign to 

get one million signatures by WORLD FOOD DAY on a separate Truth-In-Labeling petition which calls for both labeling of GE foods and of animal products that come from industrial-scale factory farms, or Confined Animal Feeding Operations  (CAFOs).

      BIOTECH companies like Monsanto (which gave the world Agent Orange) are opposed to mandatory labeling. This kind of bullying attitude has no room in a democracy and the competitive marketplace. It would be unthinkable for consumers to buy products such as, say a car or a stove, a camera or a computer, without knowing who manufactured them.  Nor would anyone buy medicines without knowing which companies are behind them. So why should food, which is essential for human sustenance and health, be any different? 

      EVERYONE is entitled to eat what they want, be it organic or GE. But ultimately, consumers have a right to be able to choose which foods they and their families will buy.

 www.justlabelit.org

Photograph by Denise Blasor

"What I'll need to be 

happy 

in my old age is flowers, 

dogs, music, gardening, 

painting. Two pairs of 

pants and two blouses. " 

Linda St. John

PIC-NIC TIME: 

WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT GE and GMOs?

THEN HEAD OVER TO PARQUE LUIS MUÑOZ RIVERA IN PUERTA DE TIERRA

THIS SATURDAY OCT. 15 AT 4 P.M.WHERE EL DEPARTAMENTO

 BY LORRAINE BLASOR

DE LA COMIDA, AN ORGANIC FOOD DISTRIBUTOR,

WILL BE ON HAND WITH INFORMATION ON GMOs AND

ORGANIC FARMING IN PUERTO RICO. AND SINCE TOO

MUCH TALK CAN WET THE APPETITE, THERE WILL ALSO

BE FOOD TO SNACK ON (THE non GMO KIND). 

PARTICIPANTS ARE WELCOME TO BRING ALONG THEIR

OWN GOODIES TO SHARE WITH OTHERS DURING THE

ACTIVITY TO BE HELD IN THE PARK'S "BUNKER" AREA,

WHICH IS CLOSEST TO THE P.R. SUPREME COURT BUILDING.

EL DEPARTAMENTO DE LA COMIDA, 

#1063 Calle Las Palmas, Trastalleres 787.325.8306

By Denise Blasor

I will complain, yet praise;

I will bewail, approve;

And all my sour-sweet days

I will lament and love.

--George Herbert                      

                                        © 2011Lorraine Blasor

NOT ALL SALMON ARE CREATED EQUAL

A Question of Trust

Commerce is built on trust.

Every day consumers everywhere make purchases based on the merits of a particular product and confidence that the product will be a good buy because a friend or relative has recommended it, they have read about it, or have seen a favorable advertisement.

These daily interactions based on trust have helped grow the U.S. economy to staggering heights. But trust is a fragile thing: it can easily be undermined when companies place the profit motive ahead of the welfare of consumers or when corporate incompetence, negligence or hubris leads to tragic mistakes.

Labeling is a key aspect in promoting that spirit of trust because it gives consumers the information necessary to make informed purchases. The product label lists the product's ingredients or components and also may provide additional information on its safe use, cleaning, and disposal. Knowing what you buy is increasingly important to consumers concerned about health, the environment, and other issues.

But not everyone is happy to disclose product information. Take the case of the first genetically engineered (GE) animal intended for human consumption: the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is now getting ready to approve a transgenic salmon that grows at twice the normal rate. It was developed by Massachusetts-based AquaBounty Technologies and the FDA says that it will not require any special labeling for this product.

Why? The FDA's position is that GE foods are equivalent to conventional foods so they don't need to be labeled.

Genetic engineering is a controversial new technology that is altering food production everywhere around the planet. As befits the information age, consumers have every right to know what they are buying and consuming, all the more so in the case of a genetically engineered fish. According to the Center for Food Safety , a non-profit public interest and environmental advocacy group with offices in Washington, the amount of antibiotics given to transgenic fish may be higher than that given to farmed fish.

"Already farmed salmon are given more antibiotics than any other livestock by weight, threatening the health of those who eat them and the continued efficacy of these antibiotics to treat human disease," the organization warned in a recent online posting.

AquaBounty maintains the fish is a safe and healthy alternative to wild salmon. Furthermore, it will only breed sterile female salmon in contained facilities designed to prevent any fish from escaping into the wild, another source of concern. "Because salmon grown from AquAdvantage®eggs are nutritionally and biologically the same as any other Atlantic salmon the consumer purchases, there is no reason for it to be labeled as different. Voluntary labeling is sometimes acceptable, but would be the responsibility of the fish growers," the company said on its website.

You would think that a cutting-edge company would take great pride in identifying the revolutionary new product it is about to put on the table of American consumers. Apparently, the opposite is true. In the case of a hot potato like a genetically altered fish, the easiest option seems to be to sell the fish without any identifying labels that might discourage consumers from buying the product.

If a transgenic fish is safe to eat, why the need for secrecy?

This salmon needs to be labeled for what it is: a fish created by bioengineers who are tinkering with the genetic code of the animal kingdom. Not all fish are created equal and consumers need to know which are man-made and which were created by nature.

Honesty and transparency are the only way to go.

(On Nov. 18, a coalition of consumer, environmental, animal welfare and many other groups demanded that the FDA deny approval of the transgenic salmon or require mandatory labeling of the fish should approval proceed. The comment period on the labeling of GE salmon ends on Monday, Nov. 22.)

"The cure for anything is salt water: sweat, tears or the sea." Isak Dinesen

A SIMPLE TIP Fruit juices provide welcome refreshment at any time of the day but their high sugar content can also make them excessively sweet. Mixing juice with water will not only modulate the sweetness of the drink but, even better, will help you stretch your dollar.

Duly Noted 

-- Not familiar with JJill, purveyors of stylish women's clothing via retail outlets and the internet? Then, go to jill.com. This company is a real find, offering items for daily wear and special occasions that are smart yet easy going, with prices ranging from $23 to $190. Plus you can pick up some tremendous bargains by checking the site's sales pages. 

-- There is help out there for people who want to get involved in community service but don't know how to get started. AARP runs a website -- createthegood.org --dedicated to providing ideas and helpful advice on tackling different types of initiatives such as organizing a food drive, providing assistance to caregivers, or starting a community garden. There is also a Spanish version: compartiresvivir.org  

Editor's Note: If you are interested in Puerto Rico or wish to revisit some of the news stories that captivated newspaper readers in recent decades, then pick up a copy of "A Reporter's Notebook in Puerto Rico (1973-2010.)." Written by Gino Ponti, a police reporter for the now defunct The San Juan Star, the book is part biography, part short history of The San Juan Star, and part retelling of the stories that made Ponti's reputation as one of the island's finest journalists, including an investigative series that proved the innocence of a man incarcerated for seven years based on evidence fabricated by the police. Ponti's style of writing is so charmingly colloquial and his news stories so compelling and vividly described that one can forgive him the occasional repetition and copy editing lapses. The book is available at Borders in Plaza Las Americas and La Tertulia, in Río Piedras.

"There is no need for temples, no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness." Dalai Lama

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