I just found out that the FDA is going to start considering proposals to sell genetically engineered animals as food. Here's an AP article from Thursday, Sept 18th.
Now, I'm not totally against people raising frankencows if they want to. But if they do, and they want to sell them as food, they should be required to label their frankenbeef as such. As of now, the FDA has no plans to require genetically modified meat to be labeled in any way, unless it makes some health claim, like, say, low-cholesterol T-bone steak. If they don't claim a health benefit, they don't have to label it as genetically modified.
I don't know about you, but I want to be able to decide for myself whether I eat a frankenburger or not, and I can't do that if the meat isn't labeled. We can't even trust the government to allow the non-GM meat producers to label their meat as franken-free. Remember the legal battles about whether dairies could label their milk as hormone-free?
So what do we do about it? Well, you can get a draft of the proposed rules for frankenmeat here. Scroll down to the line that says
Draft Guidance for Industry #187 - Regulation of Genetically Engineered Animals Containing Heritable rDNA Constructs | html | pdf |and click on the format you like best to get a copy of the proposed rules. Once you've read them, you can go to this site and type "Docket FDA-2008-D-0394" in the search field. When the document comes up, click the link that says "Send a Comment or Submission." A page will appear with a bunch of blank fields for you to fill in. Whatever else you may have to say about frankencritters being sold as food, I hope you'll tell the FDA that any genetically modified animal product sold as food must be clearly and prominently labeled as genetically modified meat.
Of course, you can easily avoid GM meat by raising your own, buying all your meat directly from the farmer, or ordering it from La Vida Local.
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2 comments:
THANK-YOU SO MUCH FOR POSTING THIS!
I see a political post in your future... ;)
I must speak up and say that I do NOT agree with even allowing these animals to exist! Our experience with modifying genes of plants is that containment is not valued, and genetic drift is inevitable.
But I do see the argument that someone could claim it to be their right...so I'll listen to that, and respectfully disagree.
More reason for us to rally together--come to the movie on October 3rd! It may not be dealing with GMO this time around, but it's time for us to start having more discussions about community...
...and don't forget the draw to connect with Les Roggenbuck to get hints and help with growing your own food! This is the only 100% assurance you have that you're eating according to your own standards...and the cheapest way to go natural/organic/sustainable, too.
I am thoroughly convinced that we cast a vote on the world we want to create with every morsel of food we put in our mouths...food is our easiest, fastest, most powerful vehicle for global change--societal and environmental!
Have you read Margaret Atwood's "Oryx and Crake"? Anyone wrestling with the issue of GM animals needs to read it, then think long and hard. She's a masterful writer and this is a very disturbing novel.
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