What you sow isn't always
what you reap
05 April 2006 - International
— "This year I will again sow maize. But
if it is again contaminated [with genetically
engineered maize] I will abandon the growing of
organic maize. It is obvious that I cannot carry
on my shoulders the episodes of contamination
like these, year after year."
This chilling statement came
from Enric Navarro, an organic maize [corn] grower
from Girona in Spain whose farm has been dedicated
to organic maize cultivation for the last four
years. This year his crop was contaminated by
genetically engineered [GE] maize. He doesn't
know where it came from. It could have been from
any non-organic field, quite literally, anywhere
on the wind.
When GE crops are allowed to
"coexist" in the open with organic crops,
what you sow isn't always what you reap.
Enric chose to burn nearly two-thirds
of his organic maize crop after testing revealed
up to 12.6 percent of it was contaminated with
GE, rather than sell his crop at a premium through
the organic market.
He followed his conscience.
He suffered a massive economic loss.
And he isn't alone. Other organic
farmers have burned their crops rather than allow
them to further contaminate the Spanish maize
market.
"I wouldn't be able to
sleep at night if I got into the conventional
market with contaminated maize. Even though I
know that there are thousands of hectares of GE
maize and that our food chain is flooded with
it, I felt I could at least intervene in stopping
my own production. This act was done to publicly
denounce the situation we are currently living
with here in Cataluña with GE." Said
Enric.
The choice facing his home region
is clear to Enric: "If Cataluña abandons
GE, I will continue to make organic maize. If
not the organic maize will disappear. That simple.
That sad."
More stories like Enric's are
highlighted in a new report, 'Impossible Coexistence,'
which was recently released by Greenpeace and
two Spanish NGOs, Assemblea Pagesa and civil society
group 'Plataforma Trangènics Fora!'. The
report documents Spain's reckless adoption of
genetically engineered maize and the subsequent
disasters that have befallen many of the conventional
and organic farmers in two of the main GE growing
regions Aragón and Cataluña.
A conference on so-called coexistence
is underway in Vienna where EU delegates will
decide on the future of GE cultivation.
Economic losses like Enric's
are a grim reminder of why countries should close
the door to genetic pollution, especially as consumers
do not want it and markets are closed to this
unsafe technology.
Enric had this advice to the
politicians: "To solve the GE problem and
its social, environmental and health implications,
the only option is to not cultivate a type of
crop that the citizens do not want."
We agree.
