This Tuesday brought the third installment in the “Food for Thought” film series sponsored by San Diego Roots Sustainable Food Project, Slow Food San Diego, and Ocean Beach People’s Organic Food Co-op.  In addition to viewing the movie The Future of Food, the event’s attendees were also treated to a panel discussion with professionals in the agriculture and food industries, and were given the opportunity to ask questions.  The movie illustrates the perils of Genetic Modification, highlighting potential effects on our long-term health and the health of the planet. The Future of Food was released in 2004, and has since played a significant role in inspiring and educating the grassroots anti-GMO movement.

The film further opened my eyes to the frightening amount of power that has been granted to the agribusiness industry.  Much of the problem boils down to a change in the interpretation of US patent law. In the 1980 case of Diamond v. Chakrabarty, the Supreme Court ruled with a 5-4 vote that it was legal to patent a man-made, oil eating microbe.  This marked the first time that a patent had been granted for a living organism.  It opened the door for the patenting of other genetically modified organisms and ultimately led to the current abuse of the patent system.  Today, large agricultural companies are being permitted to patent not only genetically modified seed that they create, but also non-genetically modified seed that evolved in nature.  The only requirement is that no one else has patented the seed already.  This gives the companies the right to own plants that have been growing around the world since the beginning of time.  It also gives them the power to sue for patent infringement, and potentially charge people for growing their own native plants.  The Future of Food discloses the awful truth, “whoever controls the seed controls the food”.

Despite legislative efforts at both the Federal and State levels, there are still no mandatory labeling laws for genetically modified ingredients in the US.  Labeling genetically modified ingredients would provide traceable documentation of any ill-health effects caused by exposure to GMO’s, finally making the producers liable for their product.  There are mandatory labeling laws in Europe, so American companies have been forced to switch to non-GMO or clearly mark their GMO ingredients on the packaging destined for the European market.  This allows the consumer to make informed decisions about what they put in their bodies.

I was disappointed to learn that since the film’s release in 2004, little has been accomplished in the fight against genetically modified food.  There has been a ban on the production of GMO crops in a only few California counties.  In September 2008, California joined Indiana, North Dakota, and South Dakota, by passing legislation that protects farmers from being held liable for GMO products that drift into their field unintentionally.  In all other states, farmers are still subject to lawsuits by the biotech patent holder should any trace of their patented gene be found in a farmer’s field without the proper license.  Even if the seed was blown there by the wind, dropped there by an animal, or fell off a passing truck, the farmer is held accountable.

The most notorious example of this practice was a case in Canada involving Percy Schmeiser who fought a ten year - $200,000 battle with the biotech giant Monsanto.  In March of 2008 he won a moral victory against Monsanto when a small claims court judge ruled that the company was responsible for the clean-up of unwanted GMO canola from Schmeiser’s farm.  The ruling came with a monetary award of less than $700, but most importantly, no gag-order.  It also granted Schmeiser the right to sue Monsanto again if there is further contamination of his fields.

I had watched The Future of Food prior to the “Food for Thought” showing so that I could be prepared to ask questions at the panel discussion.  I was glad to have planned ahead, because I found myself so enraged at the end of the movie, that it took me a few days before I could form coherent thoughts without cursing.  I am still outraged at the audacity of the industrial agribusiness industry to make decisions which affect us on a global level with the sole motivation of filling their own bank accounts.  I am still disgusted by the ineptitude of our policy makers, and the spineless way they have caved to pressure from big business.  I am still fearful of a global catastrophe brought on by our own ignorance and lack of foresight.  While I am still angry, I am also motivated to do everything in my power to encourage a change in the American food system.