http://www.IowaFarmer.com/010825/vilsack.htm

Vilsack: Do not let fear hinder benefits of biotechnology

Story posted 8/23/01

By Dan Zinkand
Iowa Farmer Today

Gov. Vilsack
     
Last year, Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack cofounded the Governors Biotechnology
Partnership, which he currently leads. Its membership has grown from a few
governors to 27. In an Aug. 11 interview, Vilsack discussed the partnership,
its purpose and the role of biotechnology in world agriculture.

IFT: What is the purpose of the Governors Biotechnology Partnership?
Vilsack: The partnership is designed to provide a forum for educating
governors and, in turn, for governors to educate their their people about
the science of biotechnology. Biotechnology has been around for about 8,000
years. 

The governors also are learning about the regulatory structure that is
established through the FDA, the USDA and the EPA, so we can better inform
people there are certain processes which these crops go through.

Having said that, the governors also can be advocates for continued review
of the government¹s role in the biotechnology area.

I think it¹s pretty clear the government¹s going to have to continue to take
a more significant role in establishing testing procedures and regulatory
procedures that allow consumers to become very confident with these
products.

IFT: Is consumer confidence an issue in the wake of StarLink in the United
States and Japan and the discovery of biotech potatoes in snack foods in
Japan earlier this summer?

Vilsack: It¹s two issues.
It¹s an issue, first of all from an American public standpoint, that we have
always had a sense of security about our food supply ‹ I shouldn¹t say
always ‹ (I should say) recently. We don¹t want to jeopardize that. And I
don¹t think we have.

And secondly, and as importantly, if we¹re going to be exporters of
agricultural products, which is important to our family farmers, we have to
make sure markets are available. So we have to begin to address some of the
real or perceived concerns about biotechnology.

For that reason, I, along with a number of different governors, will be
traveling to Brussels (in October) to speak with members of the European
Union¹s (EU) Ag Ministry to begin that conversation that has to take place,
so some of those fears and concerns can be dealt with.

IFT: What is the most effective way to deal with these real and perceived
concerns? It¹s hard to deal with a perceived concern because that is so
individual.

Vilsack: I think there are two things. The Japanese already have required
labeling. The Europeans are no doubt going to require some degree of
labeling, some identification of genetically modified crops and those that
are organic and so forth.

Secondly, we have to begin educating them about the regulatory structure
that exists (in the United States) and to see how that can be applied on an
international basis.

We can¹t let fear prevent us from the benefits of this technology. We can¹t
prevent fear from enabling us to meet the nutritional needs of hundreds of
millions of people in the world who are now malnourished, many of them are
children.

We can¹t let fear prevent us from developing food that will also cure or
prevent disease. We really have to do this.

The world population is growing. The amount of land that is available for
production is not going to get any greater. With any likelihood, it¹s going
to shrink as we have more developments, more communities.

So we will have to figure out how to grow more or less and figure out how to
make it more nutritious and more beneficial. Science has a role to play in
that.

IFT: How can you address those perceived concerns, which probably vary by
country and within demographic groups?

Vilsack: Well, that¹s the benefit of having the EU. In theory, they are
going to speak with a single voice.

So we begin with the process, saying, ŒŒTell us what your concerns are. Tell
us what proof you have that these (biotech products) are going to provide a
threat to human well being.

ŒŒAnd, if you don¹t have that proof, if you are just assuming things are
going to occur or you are assuming that because we don¹t know everything
that there ever is to know about these biotech products we¹re never going to
use them.¹¹

Then you have to start talking about the fact that in the pharmaceutical
side you are ingesting drugs for illnesses and diseases that came from the
very technology that is being applied to food.

IFT: Here at home we have had the Plant Sciences initiative at Iowa State
University. What benefits do you see coming from this initiative for farmers
and to the state¹s economy as a whole?

Vilsack: We¹ve invested millions of dollars in the Plant Science Initiative.
We¹ll continue to do that.

There¹s no question that it is a key component to success for family
farmers. If we are going to succeed to keep family farmers in business, they
are going to have to add value to what they grow.

You can add value in one of two ways. You can either add it by structuring
the plant so it becomes suited for a particular purpose and uniquely
designed for that purpose.

In that case, it then becomes not a commodity but an ingredient, and,
therefore, more valuable, which is what the Plant Sciences Initiative is
designed to do.

It is designed to help us learn more about the genetic make up of crops; how
they affect and respond to the environment and stresses and how that
structure can be changed to become more nutritious or more specifically
designed for a specific purpose. Extraordinarily important.

It¹s also the science and technology that is going to allow us to convert
food into nutraceuticals, so you won¹t have to take pills. You will eat a
certain type of food for illness prevention or disease prevention.

The second type of value added is, of course, the traditional one in which
you basically process the grain into something more valuable. That¹s where
you get into ethanol, soy diesel.

IFT: What does the future hold for Iowa agriculture?

Vilsack: I¹m optimistic about the future. Times are tough now as we are in
this transition period, but I really believe that if we continue along the
track we¹ve started down in investing in the Plant Sciences Initiative, we
will create opportunities for better understanding of biotechnology, also
promoting organic crops.

There¹s no reason in the world why biotech is the only answer. It¹s not the
only answer. Organic is just as important to the future of family farmers
because there¹s a niche there, there¹s a profit to be made.

We need to figure out ways in which they can coexist. There are a lot of
opportunities here.

IFT: A number of organic farmers at the annual meeting of the Practical
Farmers of Iowa in January raised the issue with you of pollen drift from
biotech corn to organic corn.

Vilsack: I believe the science will work it out so that pollination process
will not result in contamination (of the organic corn), but that you can
have these fields side by side. We are not there yet. We¹ve got to get
there.

IFT: In the wake of what happened to Iowa¹s grain-handling system from
StarLink contamination, what has been done to strengthen the system¹s
integrity?

Vilsack: We are doing it systematically. We are developing techniques and
processes by which grains can be identified. Once you have that process and
that understanding, then you can develop the process by which you can
segregate and separately store grain.

This is an evolving process. We are in a position of tremendous
transformation and change.

And we are going to develop these concepts, these process and procedures,
and regulatory structures, testing procedures, identification processes over
time. That¹s what makes it exciting.

I just think a lot of smart people working together can come up with a much
brighter and better future for our agriculture, for our farm families.

On the Web:
Governors Biotechnology Partnership: http://www.governorsbiotech.org;
ISU Plant Sciences Institute: http://www.plantsciences.iastate.edu;
European Union ag policies: http://www.europa.eu.int/pol/agr/index_en.htm:
Japan: 
Ministry of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries, http://www.maff.go.jp/;
Ministry of Health Labour and Welfare, http://www.mhlw.go.jp/english/org.
The MHLW¹s Department of Food Sanitation regulates GMO foods.
USDA Foreign Ag Service: http://www.fas.usda.gov.
U.S. Embassy, Tokyo, http://www.usembassy.state.gov/tokyo;
The U.S. Agricultural Trade Office (ATO) in Japan, http://www.atojapan.org
    
Story posted 8/23/01
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