GMO Blog: GMO Foods vs Organic Foods

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What threats do USDA decisions on GMOs pose to organics?

After the recent USDA approval of unrestricted planting of GMO alfalfa and slightly restricted planting of sugar beets, WellWise spoke with Maya Rodale of the Rodale Institute, which has been conducting research on organic farming methods for more than 60 years. Ms. Rodale’s great grandfather, J.I. Rodale, is credited with founding the institute, popularizing the term “organic,” and creating numerous magazines, which include Organic Farming and Gardening (now known as Organic Gardening) and Prevention.

WellWise: How problematic is the recent USDA decision on GMO alfalfa, engineered to tolerate large quantities of the weed killer RoundUp, in your estimation?

Maya Rodale: Many people, if they hear about it at all, will probably respond to this decision with “I don’t eat alfalfa. Why should I care?” But alfalfa is a major source of animal feed. GMO alfalfa will get into our food system through the cows we eat or through their milk products, or through cross pollination, which is an especially big risk for a perennial crop like alfalfa.

Also, because this is a perennial crop (which means that it stays in the ground for a long time), more RoundUp will be applied throughout the year. We already have a problem with RoundUp-resistant weeds. There are huge health risks to these crops and the chemicals applied to them.  

WW: How will farmers be affected by this?

MR: In the short term, chemical hay farmers will have an easier time with weed management. Long term, those farmers will be more tied into a vertically integrated food-production systems that controls their operations. This makes our food security vulnerable.

For organic farmers, it’s another thorn in our side, and an unnecessary obstacle to our ability to produce organic, non-GMO food.

WW: What might the affect be on the integrity of the term “organic”?

MR: The USDA Organic Standards certifies the farmer and the farm and production process in a very rigorous way. Organic farmers will not be using GMO crops because they are engineered to use chemicals, the antithesis of organic farming.

WW: What are some of the potential problems here with certification after this USDA decision?

MR: In the short term, certification will go on as it has. The certification is not whether GMOs are in the crops, it’s how the crops are grown.

WW: What are some of the other issues you have with this?

MR: In a significant way, this decision takes away everyone’s choice to avoid GMO foods, because though you may not eat GMO alfalfa directly, you certainly are going to be ingesting things that will be affected by it, and therefore this will be in your system.

WW: Can the organic dairy industry substitute other feed if the alfalfa crop becomes contaminated with GMO seeds? And is there possibility that other feed crops could end up being contaminated as well?

MR: We need alfalfa in the organic industry, so we won’t substitute something else. But because we plant alfalfa-grass mixes for greater biodiversity. That will mitigate the effects.

WW: Do you think GMO foods, or products containing GMO ingredients, should be labeled as such?

MR: Yes. We want our food labeled, so that American citizens can have an informed choice in what they eat. We’d like to see this label but the agribusinesses don’t, because they know no one will buy it. Right now the best way to avoid and get rid of GMOs is to buy organic.

WW: What action do you think that people who are concerned about this decision could take at this time?

I think they should write or call the White House and the USDA and tell them they want their freedom of choice protected. And they should vote with their dollars by buying organic food and products.

 Email for USDA Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack is agsec@usda.gov

Contact information for the White House is here.

James Townsend is editor in chief of WellWise.org, a nonprofit organization for the dissemination of science-based information about supplements, nutrients and strategies for health.

 You can read more of James Townsend's health blogs here.

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