By Duncan Allison

The safety of our food supply is a very basic and understandable concern. Unfortunately it is easy to be confused since there are so many contrasting reports in the media. The fact is that there is plenty of evidence to say that our food supply has never been safer.

GMOs are a good example and yet Pew Research found that 88% of scientists believe genetically modified (GM) foods are safe while 57% of Americans say GM foods are unsafe and an even more concerning 67% do not trust scientists. How can we gain that understanding to give us confidence that we can trust the science that will continue to produce a supply of affordable and sustainable food?

Let’s look at the basic facts. GM crops have been planted on almost five billion acres by more than 17 million farmers in about 30 countries since 1996 when GM crops became available. During this period there have been no food or feed safety concerns and no adverse ecological impacts have been observed that could be attributed to GM.

Campbell Soup, a typical global processed food supplier, has been using ingredients from GM crops in a high percentage of their products. Denise Morrison, CEO stated in January this year “The overwhelming weight of scientific evidence indicates that GMOs are safe and that foods derived from crops using genetically modified seeds are not nutritionally different from other foods.”

If you ask farmers in Chester County do they use GM seeds, the majority will respond positively. GM seeds have been extremely popular with farmers across the country since the first products became available. Farmers quickly saw the benefits of using Roundup-Ready soybeans so that this widely used contact herbicide could kill all the weeds without affecting the crop plants.

This greatly facilitated weed control and enabled farmers to substitute glyphosate for more toxic and persistent herbicides. No-till cultivation has also been facilitated so that soil and water erosion is being reduced; organic matter being built up and greater resistance to drought achieved on many more farm acres.

Use of Round-Up Ready soybeans enabled local farmer Bill Beam, Elverson and a director of the national United Soybean Board to control difficult to control weeds and even use fields which had gone out of production due to tough weeds.

“The technology is simple, safe and economic with no residual effect and opened up possibilities for greater sustainability so good for the whole ecosystem.”

The other major GM gene Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) was first marketed in 1998 in corn and cotton. This naturally occurring bacterium exists in the soil worldwide and produces proteins specifically active against certain insects. Susceptible insects die as a result of feeding on the foliage, roots or tissue of Bt corn or cotton crops.

Corn and cotton farmers have been able to replace standard usually toxic insecticides and experienced increases in yields as a result of the earlier and higher level of control. Organic insecticides based on the same bacteria have been marketed since 1938 in France and the 1950s in the US and are still widely used around the world. Bt-based products are so safe that the product can be applied just before harvesting and can be used in certified organic crops.

Bill Beam emphasizes not just the value of controlling insects that are very damaging to corn but emphasizes the benefits to the environment by not having to apply the toxic alternative soil and foliar insecticides.

GM technology is much more precise than traditional plant breeding which depended on crossing plants in the hope of transferring a gene or genes to gain resistance to disease and insects for example.

There is great potential for introducing genes that confer health benefits such as the recently approved GM high oleic acid soybeans which are trans-fat free in the US and increased Vitamin A in rice in China and many other Asian countries.

It is important that consumers understand the safety of GM crops and respect the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) who are jointly responsible for regulatory approval in the U.S. This technology is a critical tool in our toolbox to ensure we can sustainably feed 9+ billion people by 2050.