In
the last four articles of this series we have had a brief peek at
concerns with 'Big Food'/'junk food' and the potential legal battles
that seem to be brewing. Much of the real in fighting will probably
become very bitter and the 'Big Food', etc, producers will try, of
course, to keep as much of it as possible out of the press. There will
be intense lobbying behind the scenes and undoubtedly many 'deals' will
be attempted. That is the way of the 'modern' world.
There looks set to be similar intense lobbying and 'possible deals'
trying to be made in another aspect of the food world that concerns us
all, the famous so-called GM Foods, genetically modified foods. These GM
foods have been called 'Frankenstein foods' by some of their opponents,
a labelling that may be a little bit strong for a type of project that
theoretically started out with the best of intentions, to save the world
from hunger. The project seems, however, to have possibly been hijacked
on the way from theory to practice. Money, greed, business and power
seem to have turned - like so many things - an idea that was beneficial
into a situation of potential concern and confrontation. It boils down
to the ancient struggle between ethics and money. Sometimes these
contrasts can be seen much more clearly from outside of the 'modern'
world, by cultures that are philosophical and ancient and can analyze
our own 'modern' foibles with an unfogged mind. I will give an example
from Vanuatu, in the southwest Pacific. Nearly 20 years ago I was having
a long series of discussions with an old friend, a chief from the island
of Ambrym (an island renowned for sorcerers), about the problems of
violence in the 'white man's world', a distant, isolated, sometimes
feared world. "I have heard there is a council called the United Nations
which groups together the big islands of the world, is this true?", my
friend asked. "Yes", I replied. "I have heard that inside this council
there is another council called the Security Council that looks after
the peace of the world, is this true?", he said. "Yes", I replied. “I
have heard that America, England, France and Russia are the most
important members of this peace council, is this true?" "Yes", I
replied. "I have also heard that America, England, France and Russia are
also the countries that make the most rifles and fighting tools and they
sell them to the other counties in the United Nations, is this true?"
"Yes", I replied. "How can this be? If we set up a council of high men
to control and stop the making of bad magic stones (there are good ones)
by bad sorcerers (there are good ones), we do not put those men making
the stones in the council". No reply.
GM
foods may be a little bit like that. Good in theory, but when one looks
at the alleged track record of some of the giant corporations involved
in the selling of the prime GM material (seeds, sprays, etc), then it is
only natural that one can become a bit wary. I am making no comparisons
here whatever, only posing a theoretical query: what if Coca-Cola was
produced, sold and distributed by the Mafia? Would you then be slightly
cautious of it even if you liked it? Wouldn't you begin to wonder? In
spite of all the pro-GM publicity on how safe such types of food are for
humans, there are still doubts. It is obvious that 'GM' foods have not
been around long enough for anyone to be absolutely certain that such
food will cause no long-term eventual problems. Be that as it may, and
in spite of great pressure from US 'interests', the European parliament
in Strasbourg voted on 3rd July to legislate for the most
stringent GM food labelling and food sourcing rules that now exist
anywhere. This vote was enacted in spite of 'massive lobbying from US
biotechnology companies', and was effectively a major slap - more of a
punch, really - in the face for them. This was only voted through by a
narrow majority. If the vote stands up, all foods in Europe derived from
GM crops, at least those containing more than 0.5% of GM material, must
be so labelled. European consumer groups estimate that a minimum of
30,000 food products will now need to be labelled as containing GM
material - mostly derived from GM Soya or maize - including 'non-food'
items such as breads, cakes, chocolates, crisps and sweets. There is no
provision, though, for enacting rules for a 'GM - free' label for foods
that either do not contain GM material or contain less than the 0.5%.
This latter omission poses a problem for those wishing to produce and
sell organic food. However, 'the nature of the beast' is such that
already - or in the very near future, there may almost be no easily
available food products that do not contain some trace of GM material.
More below as to the reason why.
Europe is not out of the woods yet: this decision is not yet law and it
may be that the extremely narrow majorities that managed to push this
vote through in Strasbourg may be even further reduced, or disappear, in
the future steps needed to pass the legislation. The European parliament
must vote on the issue once again before the end of 2002 and then confer
with member states. One can imagine that the big biotechnology companies
will not take this lying down and that the knives will be out. The 3rd
July vote also raises the possibility of a trade war with the US, which
claims that such proposals could seriously affect approximately $5
billion worth of US exports annually to Europe. It is likely that the US
will try and block such legislation by resorting to the WTO (World Trade
Organization) under the ruse that this is effectively a discrimination
against American products amounting to an illegal trade restriction. We
have already had a chance to delve into the pros and cons of the WTO in
an earlier article.
But
how is it that GM crops have actually gotten this far when it seems that
the public outcry against them, even in the US, had seemingly reached
such a state two years ago that it looked as if the whole concept might
have been doomed to oblivion? Well, we underestimate the power of money
and the money of power. Millennia ago, the great Sophocles said:
"Money, gentlemen, money! The virus
That infects mankind with every
sickness
We have a name for, no greater scourge
Than that! Money it is that pounds
Great cities to piles of rubble, turns people
By the millions into homeless refugees,
Takes homeless citizens and corrupts them
Into doing things they would be ashamed to think of
Before the fee was mentioned…."
And
things are no different today, they are even worse. The relatively
recent shocking news (for some) about corporate fraud in the US should
be opening the public's eyes as to how the system really works. The
recent cases of the collapses of Enron, Worldcom and those others that
are in the pipeline are just an indication of the depths to which big
business has sunk - and this is nothing new, this sort of fraud has been
going on for nearly 15 years and involves not only the big companies,
but also auditors, banks, stock markets and so on. It is all
interlinked, and people have a right to be disgusted with the system.
The only surprise is that it has taken so long to come to light. The
'modern' world, so adept at criticizing nations in the 'Developing'
world for corruption, should be hanging its head in shame: the sums
involved in modern 'corporate fraud' dwarf the paltry hoardings of petty
dictators. And is there any saving grace because those involved are from
the 'modern' world? No, and it gets worse: of the top 100 largest
economies in the world, 51 are business corporations, only 49 are
nations. Of the top 200 business corporations in the world, 82 are from
the US. Of these 82 corporations, 44 did not pay the full standard 35%
US federal tax rate during the period 1996-1998, and seven of these
'actually paid less than zero in federal income taxes in 1998 (because
of rebates)'. These include household names - PepsiCo, Chevron, Texaco,
McKesson, Enron, Worldcom and General Motors. There are, of course,
similar corporations in the UK and Europe; it is just that US companies
seem (so far) not so adept at keeping secrets. 'Creative accounting' can
do wonders!
So
how did the big biotech corporations react when, a couple of years ago,
it looked as if the future of GM products was possibly due to be
curtailed? A year ago, 35 countries had, or were developing, compulsory
GM labelling laws. It looked then as if the vast US agricultural export
industry would have to bow to public pressure and keep GM seeds well
away from 'pure' crops. What happened? Some say the big biotech
corporations went on the offensive, 'genetically' and legally. Whether
it was a conscious decision or not is still rather unclear, it may be
inherent in the products and the system. The ever-vigilant Naomi Klein
hints that it was deliberate. In a perceptive June 2001 article, she
outlines the response of the biotechnology industry to the threat of 'GM
labelling': "The real strategy is to introduce so much genetic pollution
that meeting the consumer demand for GM-free food is seen as not
possible. The idea, quite simply, is to pollute faster than countries
can legislate - then change the laws to fit the contamination". This is
what seems to have happened in the European parliament decision: there
is no provision for a 'GM-free' food label as it is now thought that
this would be almost impossible - and prohibitively expensive - to
enforce. 'GM' pollution has now reached a stage where it seems almost
impossible to stop. To make the situation even laughably and tragically
worse, one of the biggest biotech companies, Monsanto (whom we have come
across in our series on 'Water') seems to be actually suing some of the
people who may be being inadvertently polluted! Does this sound like a
horror film? It should.
One
might say that the solution to all this is to eat only 'organic' food,
but that is the problem: within the very near future there will be no
pure organic food, GM 'pollution' will have made that impossible. The
'genie' is out of the bottle and it is too late to put it back inside! |