From the Des Moines Register Letters to the Editor, November 21, 2002

'Pharm' crops far from being risk-free

In the Nov. 8 opinion piece, "Safe, GM Food Can Save Starving Africans," Tim
Burrack notes that he feeds genetically modified food to his own children.I'm
one of the majority of Americans who would like to make an informed choice
about genetically engineered food. I see no reason why African nations,
starving or not, shouldn't be permitted the same choice. Just recently, we've
learned that Iowa corn bioengineered to contain a still unnamed drug may have
contaminated the corn supply. We've also learned that corn "pharmed" to
produce insulin had contaminated soy in Nebraska. We've learned that there
are hundreds of field trials of pharm crops taking place, and thousands more
are planned. There is ample reason for us to doubt that this new technology
is risk free.Iowa corn has been impounded because some crop may have been
cross-pollinated with pharmed varieties. If genetic contamination of this
sort affects the crop of seed savers, they'll have a crop expressing an
unknown drug that has not yet been tested or approved for human use. This is
of concern to all farmers who save seed, whether in the United States or in
Africa.

Jim Diamond
Sierra Club Genetic Engineering Committee,
San Francisco, Calif.




Erin E. Jordahl
Director, Iowa Chapter Sierra Club
3839 Merle Hay Road, Suite 280
Des Moines, IA 50310
515-277-8868
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