What Is a GMO?
According to Quebec's commission on ethics in science and technology (CEST), a GMO is an
organism which has been given characteristics that it did not possess by changing its genetic makeup. It
is also possible to accentuate characteristics already present or suppress those considered undesirable.
Plant and Animal Modification
In other words, a GMO is a living organism whose genetic makeup has been transformed by a method
called transgenesis to modify a specific trait. We modify plants so that they are resistant to insecticides
and pesticides or so that they are able to produce their own.
Animals are also genetically modified to accelerate their rate of meat production and growth. There is
the example of
AquAdvantage transgenic salmon,,
the first transgenic animal to be approved for consumption in the United States by the US Food and Drug Administration. It will be only a matter of
time before this product is served on our Canadian plates.
The use of different types of GMOs varies from one country to another. While thirty-eight countries –
including the twenty-eight member states of the European Union (France, Germany, Greece, etc.) –
have banished them from their agricultural practices, others, such as Canada and the United States,
continue to jeopardize the health of their citizens who consume GMOs directly or indirectly.
The Dangers of GMOs
Organizations like Greenpeace highlight a number of dangers associated with GMOs. First, they
constitute a clear threat to the environment. Since most GMOs acquire increased resistance to
herbicides and insecticides, farmers use the latter in greater quantity without fear of altering or killing
plants. This results in increased soil and groundwater pollution.
GMOs also pose an ethical problem, since the choice of some farmers to resort to this process makes it
difficult for all others, compromising their freedom to use other methods. Among other issues, it is
difficult for farmers who do not want to use GMOs to compete or to obtain financing.
Lack of Independent Studies on the Subject
Moreover, GMOs have not been proven to be harmless to human health. Indeed, no independent
studies have been conducted to date to measure the potential long-term effects of GMOs on human
health.
The only studies that have been conducted on the effects of GMOs have been carried out by those
companies and corporations that have an interest in denying the health risks that these products
represent. They are motivated to continue to enrich themselves by expanding GMO agricultural
production.
We do not believe that politicians who have authorized GMOs have an adequate grasp of the subject.
Quite the contrary: political parties that have allowed them have probably been influenced by corporate
political donations and the GMO lobby.
Consequently, in the absence of tangible evidence from serious independent studies, we believe that we
should ban GMOs from our plates.
Sources:
http://www.ogm.gouv.qc.ca
http://www.greenpeace.org/france/fr/campagnes/agriculture-ecologique/fiches-thematiques/ogm/
