by Adriana Velez December 30, 2010 11:00 AM (PT)
The diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks haven't revealed much in general that we didn't already suspect, especially the extent to which our government strong-arms its way around the world. But what has surprised me is the frequency with which genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are mentioned. First we learned that the State Department has been trying to get intelligence on "government acceptance of genetically modified food and propagation of genetically modified foods" in Africa. Another cable has a State Department official advising Pakistan that GMOs could solve the country's drought-burdened agricultural problems.
And in another cable from 2007, then-ambassador to France Craig Stapleton frets over France's ban on GMO seeds and worries that fear of GMOs could spread throughout Europe and, ahem, contaminate the market for Monsanto. He goes as far as suggesting retaliation against France:
Country team Paris recommends that we calibrate a target retaliation list that causes some pain across the EU since this is a collective responsibility, but that also focuses in part on the worst culprits. The list should be measured rather than vicious and must be sustainable over the long term, since we should not expect an early victory.
Isn't it nice to hear the State Department talking about sustainability? Another cable from 2009 reveals the U.S. ambassador to Spain asking for help supporting pro-GMO leaders there. For a little context, the European Union has approved both GMO foods and the GMO seed MON 810; however, individual European countries have banned GMO seeds and the public have rejected genetically modified (GM) foods.
According to a Democracy Now interview with Seeds of Deception author and Institute for Responsible Technology executive director Jeffrey Smith, Europe has the leverage to fight back, but developing nations are especially vulnerable to pro-GMO arm twisting.
A lot of the focus of the State Department has been on developing countries. They try and push GMOs into Africa. They deployed the Secretary of State’s chief advisory—scientific adviser, Nina Fedoroff, to Australia and to India. They tried to engage the Indian government with a contract or a treaty that would allow their scientists to be trained in the U.S. So they’ve been working around the world to try and influence policy on every single continent. And in some cases, they’re doing—they’re actually winning, where they’re overtaking the regulatory authorities and making it quite weak, like it is in the U.S. And in some cases in Europe now, there’s more resistance than ever, now that it’s "not in my backyard" politics, "no planting in my country" type of politics.
Things have been no better with the Obama administration. Our food safety czar Michael Taylor has a history of pushing GMOs even in the face of mounting evidence of its dangers.
Meanwhile, the environmental impact study for GM alfalfa, ordered by the Supreme Court before the ban on GM alfalfa can be lifted, has just been released. The USDA will consider public comment for 30 days before making a decision. You can post your own comment about the dangers of GM alfalfa to the Animal Plant and Plant Health Inspection Service. You can also sign the Organic Consumers Association's petition against GMO alfalfa. Let's show more resistance to GMOs domestically so we can weaken the State Department's GMO-pushing abroad.http://foo
Adriana Velez works for the Brooklyn Food Coalition. Photo credit: Herbolario Allium via Flickr
SOURCE: http://food.change.org/blog/view/us_state_department_gmo_pusher_to_the_world
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