Why buy… GM Free?

Genetically modified (GM) crops are now being consumed in many parts of the world, and forms of genetic modification may soon be introduced to the UK. 

What are genetically modified crops? 

Genetic modification involves changing the genetic makeup of an organism by adding, removing or altering a piece of DNA. In the case of GM crops, this is usually done with the aim of making the crop more productive.

Humans have been altering crops through traditional breeding techniques for centuries, for example by selecting plants showing a wanted trait, or cross-pollinating two plants so that the offspring inherits desired genes from both.

However, it is only much more recently that we’ve been able to directly alter the DNA within the plant. Experiments with genetic modification of crops began in the 1970s, with the first commercial plants produced in the 1980s. Strands of DNA – for example those that make the crop resistant to a certain chemical product – can now be grown in a lab and then inserted into the plant’s nucleus.

While proponents of GM say that it helps us produce more food and create more resilient crops, this form of breeding has also come with major ethical issues attached – which we explore below.

Do GM foods have to be labelled in the UK?

Currently, under UK and European laws, foods containing genetically modified organisms (GMOs) have to be labelled. However, in the UK, new legislation could soon change that. Lawmakers are looking to distinguish between traditional GM techniques and what they call ‘precision breeding’.

The UK Food Standards Agency describes precision breeding as “a way of changing the DNA of plants or animals in a precise way, using techniques including gene-editing” – a technique that involves using enzymes to cut sections of DNA. While it says that “changes must be equivalent to those that could have been made using traditional plant or animal breeding methods”, campaigners and some lawyers have described the definition as “staggeringly imprecise”.

UK ministers are in the process of excluding precision breeding techniques from GM labelling laws. Campaign organisation GM Freeze warns that the vague definition of precision breeding could mean the laws result in wide ranging changes – undercutting consumer choice and allowing the deployment of new technologies without public awareness, engagement or parliamentary oversight.

Read our full feature on precision breeding and labelling laws – including what you can do about them.

3 reasons to buy GM free

We outline just three reasons why GM crops and food are not good, for people and planet. 

1) GM seeds have a high cost for farmers

One of the biggest problems with genetically modified crops is the impact they have on farmers.

Traditionally, farmers have saved seeds from their plants to sow each season, particularly in countries in the Global South. The practice saves them money, and also allows them to select seeds that are suited to the soil and climate in their region.

But they are banned from doing this for GM crops. GM seeds are patented – meaning that companies control not only the right to the technology but also the right to breed the seeds each year. This means that farmers have to purchase GM seeds annually, adding to their costs.

Some companies have been heavy-handed in enforcing these rules. By 2013, for example, the seed giant Monsanto – later bought by Bayer – had launched over 140 lawsuits against more than 400 farmers in the US, winning $23 million (£14.8 million).

Small scale farmers have long raised the alarm on GM seeds for this reason. The agricultural union La Via Campesina says, “Patent policies are but a way of destroying the independence of small-scale farmers and peasants” by making them dependent on multinational companies.

Farmers that own under 2 hectares of land produce a significant proportion of our food (between 30% and 70%, depending on the metrics used). They play a vital role in food security particularly in poorer countries. 

However, four massive agribusinesses currently control over 50% of all commercial seed sales.

Corporate control over seeds is therefore part of a wider crisis in the food system – that is fuelling poverty, malnutrition and inequality worldwide.

2) GM seeds can increase pesticide use

GM seeds are often designed to work alongside specific pesticides, which are owned by the same companies.

‘Herbicide-resistant’ crops are modified to be able to withstand chemicals that will kill off other unwanted weeds. In the US, for example, the majority of GM plants are designed to be used with Roundup, a highly controversial pesticide, which has been the subject of thousands of lawsuits by farmers alleging major health harms, including cancer.

Pesticides have a big impact on wildlife: they have been linked to plummeting bird and bee numbers worldwide, as well as harming wild flowers, blossoms, herbs and other plants. They can also harm human health, with some forms disrupting the nervous system or interfering with our hormones, as well as increasing risks of cancer.

Proponents of GM say that farmers have to use smaller amounts of pesticides with herbicide-tolerant crops, because it makes the chemicals more efficient. However, academic studies show that this isn’t always the case.

While GM has reduced pesticide use for some crops, for others it has led to significant increase of pesticides. Over time, the impacts are likely to become more severe, as weeds develop resistance to particular pesticides that are overused in conjunction with the GM crops.

Studies also suggest that when farmers use GM crops, they become less likely to use non-chemical options for pest control, such as rotating the types of crops in the field. Such techniques will be vital in future decades for tackling pollution from chemical use, and because experts warn that pesticides may stop working altogether if too many pests become resistant to them.

3) GM seeds endanger biodiversity

Environmental organisations and some scientists have long raised concerns that GM crops can damage biodiversity.

If lots of farmers rely on one specific GM variety of seed, other types of seeds may be lost over time. Diseases or pests can more easily wipe out whole areas of crops if they are the same genetic variety. As the climate changes, we will likely need to preserve genetic variations that could withstand changing temperatures or other new threats.

GM plants can also escape beyond fields or cross-pollinate with wild varieties, meaning that their genetic traits emerge in the surrounding ecosystem. Because GM seeds are designed to be particularly vigorous, there is a risk that they overrun wild plants, dominating the landscape – although insufficient research has been done to understand how widespread these impacts have been.

GM crops can have indirect impacts on biodiversity too. They are designed to be used as part of large-scale monoculture systems: fields sown with single crop varieties that depend on chemical use. This form of industrial agriculture has led to the collapse of many animal and plant populations. In the US, for example, the expansion of GM corn has been linked to the decline in numbers of Monarch Butterflies.

Scientists have warned that these changes could alter complex ecosystems and food webs in a way that is extremely difficult for humans to monitor or understand.

Biodiversity is the foundation of our food security. 
 

GMO regulations in the UK and Europe

Proposed changes during 2024 to UK legislation could affect the visibility of GMO food in the food chain and the environment. Unless regulations are changed, GM produce may be allowed in the food chain without adequate labelling. 

This could mean people consuming food with genetically modified ingredients, without knowing about it.

Leonie Nimmo from GM Freeze outlines the changes and what you can do to prevent this from happening.