EFAO Policy
Genetically Modified Organisms

February 2003

Introduction

The purpose of the Ecological Farmers Association of Ontario (EFAO) is to help create an agriculture, which maintains and enhances the health of the soil, the crops, the livestock and the farm community through an understanding of ecological principles. Our membership is made up of over 500 families who operate both large, modern, commercial-scale farms and smaller diversified units and others who have only a backyard garden, as well as, researchers, journalists, academics and consumers.

The majority of our members are farmers and most are certified organic farmers. There is no tolerance for genetically modified organisms (GMO's) or genetic contamination of crops or feed under organic certification standards.

As ecological farmers we attempt to work with nature by using practices like green manures, composting, cover crops, crop rotation, avoiding monocultures, encouraging biodiversity, windbreaks, attracting beneficial insects, access to outdoors for all livestock and avoiding the use of antibiotics. We rely on our own on-farm resources and avoid outside purchases as much as possible by growing and saving our own seeds or using cover crops to suppress weeds. Many of us market our farm products directly to other consumers, therefore giving us daily contact with and a chance to hear the concerns of the people who eat the food we produce.

The number of organic farmers in Ontario is increasing. Between 1999 and 2000 the number of organic farmers in Ontario increased by seventeen percent. The demand for organic food is also growing. Consumers are rejecting GM food both nationally and internationally.

Past technologies offered to farmers, such as chemical fertilizers, pesticides and mono-cropping in the name of efficiency, have shown themselves to perpetuate an agricultural model removed from nature and to be damaging to the environment, the profits of farmers and the health of rural communities. There is no reason to believe that GM technology will be any different. Genetically modified seeds give corporations increased control over family farms through lengthy technology use agreements and the need to buy seeds and chemicals to go with those seeds each year.

Once GMO's are released into the environment they cannot be unreleased. Organic farmers in western Canada have now lost the opportunity to grow canola, a once important cash crop. Both organic farmers and other farmers saving their own canola seed have found their seed contaminated by GM canola genes, making it difficult to rely on the resources from their own farm or develop region specific or organic adapted strains of a crop. In some cases farmers have been accused of stealing 'technology' from multinational corporations like Monsanto. Monsanto, with the support of the Canadian Government, is now getting ready to release GM wheat, the most important crop grown in western Canada.

The EFAO Demands the Following:

• A moratorium on any further release of GM plants, animals or other life forms, including a moratorium on the release of GM wheat. There is no support for the release of GM wheat among farmers, consumers, marketing agencies or processors.
  
  
• Mandatory labeling of all food containing GM ingredients so that as consumers we can make informed decisions on what we choose to eat.
  
  
• A full environmental assessment of the impact of genetically modified organisms along the food web, both in the soil and with respect to insect, bird and wildlife populations, should be completed before any more GMO's are released into the environment.
  
  
• Implementation of the recommendations of the Royal Society of Canada Expert Panel on the Future of Food Biotechnology, released in February, 2001, including:
  
  
  • Adoption of the 'precautionary principle' as a framework to assess new technologies, including GM food;
    
    
  • Adoption of rigorous scientific methods to evaluate GMO's rather than the presently used, scientifically unjustifiable 'substantial equivalence';
    
    
  • Subject all GM products to external review before approval;
    
    
  • Insure adequate public investment in research to allow for independent evaluation;
    
    
  • Undertake exhaustive research on the long-term effects of GMO's on the environment, human health and animal health.
    
    
• The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is both the regulator and promoter of GMO's. There needs to be a clear separation between the scientific assessment and economic promotion of GMO's.
  
  
• It is unreasonable to allow GM companies to privately reap profits and not require that they also assume all costs (e.g. from genetic pollution) that erode the incomes of organic farmers and other growers of non-GM crops. Governments must make the holders of patents on GM seeds liable for any genetic pollution that results from the release of GMO's into the environment and require holders of patents on GM seeds to compensate organic growers, other growers of non-GM crops and their communities, for the loss of crops as a result of genetic pollution.
  
  
• Ban agreements and technology (e.g. Terminator type genes) that restrict farmers' right to save, trade and reuse seeds.
  
  
• No GM crops, food products or livestock should be licensed or introduced until domestic and international customers have indicated their acceptance.
  
  
• Before any GM variety is released it must undergo rigorous, independent long-term testing to address marketability, agronomic factors, health, safety, organic production and environmental concerns.
  
  
• Public money on agricultural research should be used to serve the interests of Canadians by supporting sustainable systems of agriculture that improve the nutrition and safety of food, the health of the environment and the situation of farmers and rural communities.

For more information contact:

Ann Slater, R.R. 1 Lakeside, Ontario N0M 2G0      (519) 349-2448          aslater@quadro.net