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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