Use of Genetically Modified Organisms in the U.S. Now Being Evaluated by the British

In the UK (United Kingdom) we have been told that American farmers love GM (genetically modified) crops. We have been told yields have increased, agrochemical use has gone down and profits are almost guaranteed. I was sent to the U.S. by the Soil Association, our organic certification body, to assess the truth behind these images. The simple truth of the matter became very clear. For many people GM crops have been a complete disaster.

For a newcomer, you have to admit America is a pretty weird place. I arrived from the UK with serious jet lag and went to the nearest shopping center I could find to buy some food. Only afterwards was I told that the Mall of America is not the place for vegetables. So you can imagine the delight I felt when the wonderful people at the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) introduced me to The Wedge- real food at last.

This was the beginning of an exhausting two-week tour of the plains of North America. I came specifically to meet and interview farmers who had found that GM crops were more of a burden than a bounty. I was looking for organic farmers who had problems with contamination, for farmers who were not organic, but trying to avoid GM (and gain access to the lucrative markets available) and also for farmers who had grown GM crops but found that they generated more pain than gain.

Having never visited the U.S. before, and perhaps more alarmingly, never having driven on the wrong side of the road before, the 2,500 mile round trip was rather daunting. But what made it all bearable was the warmth of the welcome I received on my travels, even when I was visiting people who were facing serious hardship.

While many of the shocking figures in the report 'Seeds of Doubt' come from a detailed search of the literature - for example, GM crops have cost the U.S. economy an estimated $12 billion between 1999 and 2001 - perhaps the most powerful sections of the report are the personal stories of the people I met.

Roger and Amy Lansink have a small organic farm in Iowa. In the spring of 2001 Roger planted organic soya seed. He checked it repeatedly to make sure there was no contamination with GM. But when his harvest was delivered to the elevator, it was rejected due to tests that revealed the presence of GM. Where did this come from? From a neighbor's field or possibly from the vehicle transporting the beans. Faced with a potential loss of $40,000, who could they turn to? The biotech companies claim they have no responsibility for any contamination events. Does this mean that farmers have to sue their neighbors to get redress?

Biotech companies are crafty. They do not want the risks associated with GM crops, but they will go after farmers who they think might have transgressed their rigorous contracts. Take Rodney Nelson for example. Farming 9000 acres in North Dakota, he was one of the first people in his area to try GM soya. Why? He is a businessman and was assured that this would help his bottom line. The first year's soya did not yield well, but he tried again in 1999 with another variety. Again, yields were down. But worse was to follow. He was visited by investigators from Monsanto (genetically modified seed producers) who claimed they had received a 'tip-off' that Rodney was using 'saved seed' in contravention of his contract. (Seed saving is prohibited.) They made it clear that they did not want anyone to accompany them as they took samples. Rodney felt he had no reason to worry as he hadn't done anything wrong.

When he got a letter from Monsanto's lawyers eight months later, it was the last thing he expected. The letter said that the evidence collected by the investigators proved he was using saved seed. Rodney was outraged and decided to fight. The more he found out about the way Monsanto had 'investigated' him, the more determined he became. Eventually he managed to get Monsanto to hand over details of the allegations and found that about half of the samples claimed to have been collected by the 'investigators' were not even from his land. One was from a field of sugar beets and another was from a neighbor's field twelve miles away.

Rodney also found that it would have been physically impossible for the inspectors to cover all the ground in the time they spent on the land, so he was confident that Monsanto would drop the case. However, they persisted and filed a lawsuit alleging planting saved Roundup Ready soya. Rodney spent a small fortune collecting evidence to support his defense. Eventually Monsanto gave in and settled the case, but managed to get a 'gag' clause over Rodney and his family. All he could say was that "we are still hurting, emotionally and financially."

Stories like these were brought to life when, at the launch of the report, Rodney and two other farmers came to London to present their case to the British public. There was intense media interest as they explained from their perspective as farmers, that GM crops have not been the triumph the biotech industry would have us all believe.

They exposed a catalogue of failures. The failure of GM crops to increase yields; the failure of GM crops to reduce agrochemical usage; the failure of GM crops to improve farmers' profits. They told us about the complex legal quagmire that GM crops have generated in which farmers are sued by biotech companies and biotech companies are sued by farmers. And they explained how GM crops have changed, possibly forever, the way in which people farm. For example, there is simply no one farming organic canola in Canada anymore due to GM contamination.

This is a message that the Soil Association is keen to take to our government. Currently there is no commercial growing of GM crops in the UK. A decision is due to be made next summer whether to follow the U.S. into a biotech future, or to look towards more sustainable forms of agriculture like those so clearly illustrated at the Wedge.

Hugh Warwick is co-author of "Seeds of Doubt." For more information about the Soil Association and copies of the report have a look at www.soilassociation.org