Taking Action

Yesterday we announced that we are pressing our food suppliers to prohibit foods that come from genetic engineering or animal clones. The decision was made in recognition of the serious health and environmental concerns these technologies raise and the threat they pose to healthier and more sustainable food production options. Among the concerns we're raising about genetically engineered and cloned foods are genetic contamination, increased pesticide use, animal cruelty, and the deep ethical and moral issues associated with these untested new technologies. 

We recently asked eight of our largest food suppliers for their policies on genetically engineered sugar beets, which are being planted for commercial use for the first time this year. Only Diamond Crystal indicated their intent to avoid buying genetically engineered sugar and that they will seek out suppliers that do not use genetically engineered foods through a validation process. We're now in the process of surveying our meat and dairy suppliers on their potential use of animal cloning since the U.S. FDA recently decided to allow marketing of food from animal clones.

If these same food companies can provide foods that are natural and non-genetically engineered for their European customers (where such products are banned), we believe they should provide us with the same level of service.

Genetic engineering and animal cloning are controversial in food production, since the technologies have not been subject to long-term safety testing and could create irreversible environmental damage. Genetically engineered crops can contaminate natural foods and have promoted the use of herbicides that may be harmful to human health and natural systems. Scientists say that animal clones are often abnormal and suffer from a host of often painful defects. A New England Journal of Medicine article stated that, “[It] may be exceedingly difficult, if not impossible, to generate healthy cloned animals.”

In addition to acting locally, we are thinking globally and have begun advocating for public policies that meet the following safeguards:

• Before marketing, genetically engineered food or food from animal cloning must be fully evaluated through independent, peer-review for any effects on animal welfare, human health, and the environment.
• Foods with genetically engineered ingredients and foods from animal cloning (including foods from the offspring of clones) must be labeled as such.
• Genetically engineered seeds and plants are rigidly separated from other seeds and plants so that natural foods (those produced by non-genetically modified techniques) are protected from contamination; cloned animals and their offspring must be rigorously tracked throughout the food chain.
• Genetic engineering patent holders are held legally liable for contamination of non-genetically engineered crops and growers are protected when their crops are contaminated by genetically engineered crops.