by Catherine Haug, February 7, 2912
Boulder County in Colorado recently approved a transition process that would eventually ban GMO crops from county open space. This action came after citizen outcry that led to a policy recommendation crafted by the county’s Food and Agriculture Policy Council, despite fears the county would lose farmers and revenue.
“Currently, about 16,000 acres of county-woned land are planted with genetically engineered corn [primarily Bt corn]; the new rule will mean these crops will be transitioned out in favor of traditional GMO-free farming practices.”
See Second committee votes to phase out Boulder County GMOs (1) and Colorado [county] bans GMO crops (2) for more on this story.
But corn isn’t the only GE/GMO crop grown in the US. Soy, canola and most recently sugar beets and alfalfa are the primary crops, but unless this madness is stopped, more will surely follow suit. GMO papaya and zucchini are also sold in the produce section of many grocery stores. GMO sweet corn is awaiting approval.
The problem is that you don’t know if a product is GMO because it is not required to be labeled. My response to this problem is to buy only Certified Organic version of the suspect crops. However, even products that are “Made with Organic” can contain GE/GMO ingredients because up to 30% of the total ingredients (by weight) can be non-Organic. See my earlier posts: Natural vs Organic Labeling and Reading Food Labels for more.