The Biotech Crop Use Divide

A few years ago, I wrote a column speculating that the anti-biotech crop movement was beginning to lose some of its steam. Since then, however, it seems as if critics have redoubled their efforts to undermine or undercut biotech crop planting, approvals, and uses around the globe. It’s clear that the divide between biotech crop proponents and opponents is growing wider, with some consumers and food companies on one side and most other consumers and growers on the other. For evidence, consider these recent stories on biotech crops.

In January, Campbell Soup broke ranks with many of its fellow food companies and announced plans to begin listing the presence of biotech crop-derived ingredients on its product labels by 2017. Brands made by the company will soon feature labels with the line “partially produced with genetic engineering” on them.

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Despite being a bit general in its wording, biotech crop opponents have hailed Campbell Soup’s new stance. “This announcement is major victory for consumers and sets Campbell’s apart from many of its industry peers,” said Green America in a released statement.

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“Other companies should take note of consumer preference and follow Campbell’s lead in disclosing [biotech materials].”

The Green America release goes on to state that 92% of U.S. consumers are in favor of food labels listing biotech materials. However, Campbell Soup introduced a Website in 2015 that disclosed biotech-derived ingredients for its brands. For example, this states that several ingredients in the company’s popular Cream of Mushroom soup “may come from genetically engineered sources.” But according to a Campbell Soup spokesperson, the Website’s existence “has had no apparent impact on sales.”

Elsewhere in the world, drought, hunger, and economics are driving a renewed push towards biotech crop use. In Africa, 10 million people face hunger this year because of a sustained drought in the region. Many African nations have banned biotech crop use since the early 2000s. But this seems to be changing now.

“We recognize that modern biotechnology has advanced worldwide and, as a nation, we cannot afford to ignore the benefits of this technology,” said Michael Kaingu, the Higher Education Minister of Zambia, in a December 2015 interview. In China, tests have found that growers in Liaoning province are likely planting biotech corn in their fields. However, most of the varieties being used have not officially been approved for use by the government.

In both these latter cases, nations and growers have realized that ignoring biotech crop technology is something the world can no longer afford to do — especially not when consumers don’t have enough food to eat.

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