In theory, genetically engineered crops are meant to be better for the environment. For instance, Monsanto’s RoundupReady beets are designed so they do not require soil tilling and use far less herbicide than traditional or organic beet seeds. Reports newwest.net, “According to the Sugar Industry Biotech Council, using less herbicide means ‘reduced greenhouse gas emissions, reduced soil erosion, reduced soil compaction and enhanced water conservation.’” Certainly, those seem like good things. Unfortunately, in the same article, the Director of Advocacy and Communications for the Organic Seed Alliance explains that, “… while farmers might need less herbicide for the first few years, studies show that in the long term they’ll end up using more. This study for the Organic Center used USDA data to show that in the last 13 years farmers using GM seeds used 318 million more pounds of pesticides as the weeds developed a resistance to Roundup.”

If one of the main reasons for using GE seeds is to reduce the need for pesticides, but these seeds ultimately result in greater pesticide use and widespread contamination of conventional and organic crops with GE seeds (meaning these crops will also ultimately need even more chemicals to grow pest-free), then surely there is need for a serious analysis of these products before they wreak havoc on our environment and our world’s food supply.

Center for Food Safety Executive Director Andrew Kimbrell certainly thinks so. Discussing the deregulation of GE alfalfa recently, Kimbrell states, “USDA has become a rogue agency in its regulation of biotech crops and its decision to appease the few companies who seek to benefit from this technology comes despite increasing evidence that GE alfalfa will threaten the rights of farmers and consumers, as well as damage the environment.” He goes on to explain that, if Monsanto’s RoundupReady alfalfa is put into wide use, herbicide use could increase up to 23 million pounds annually.

Given that 95% of herbicides end up somewhere other than their intended target (meaning they dissipate into the air, end up in our water, etc.), it’s safe to say that anything proven to increase the use of herbicides, such as the use of GE seeds, is a serious threat to our planet. As the US continues to debate and deregulate GE crops and those crops continue to spread their seeds through insect-carrying and wind travel, there will come a point of no return. And that point will also likely include the spread of those seeds beyond US borders, threatening conventional and organic crops throughout the Americas regardless of the policies put in place by Canadian and South American governments. The Washington Post said it well: “You can’t recall them the way you can a car or a plastic toy. They’re out there for good. And no one knows what their full impact will be.” Our environment is global, and so, threats to it must be analyzed not just on a local-impact level, but also on a global scale.

Sources:

Sources: newwest.net/topic/article/farmers_seed_groups_await_ruling_on_gm_sugar_
beets/C619/L619/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_effects_of_pesticides#
cite_note-sustaining-0 (footnote reference: a b c Miller GT (2004), Sustaining
the Earth, 6th edition. Thompson Learning, Inc. Pacific Grove, California.
Chapter 9, Pages 211-216.)

washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/15/AR2011021504823.html