Good Fruit Grower

August 2014

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www.goodfruit.com Good Fruit Grower AUGUST 2014 49 since GMO traits could contaminate non-GMO crops through cross-pollination in the field. But one basic concern is potentially insurmountable: The process by which GMO crops are "deregulated," basi- cally cleared for market, doesn't address the key issues. They have asked the Food and Drug Administration to change the way it regulates GMO crops. In 1992, the FDA declared that genetically modified crops are "substantially equivalent," meaning they are not materially different from crops produced by ordinary breeding processes, the Federation of American Scien- tists explains. Unless there are special circumstances, GMO crops are designated as "Generally Recognized as Safe" under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and do not require premarket approval. They do not need to be labeled or otherwise treated as different. GMO opponents don't buy that. They claim that the genetic engineering methods themselves—the process of putting a new gene into a plant cell using a bacterium or firing it in on a bullet from a gene gun—does not carefully position the gene on a chromosome in a way that produces just the one desired effect. They claim there could be multiple, unknown effects. The plant is holistically different, they say. Deregulation The government undertakes the deregulation in ways that treat GMO crops as fundamentally the same as regular crops. Two, and sometimes three, agencies of the U.S. government may weigh in, depending upon the nature of the introduced gene. FDA regulates food from GMO crops in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. FDA is responsible for regulating the safety of GMO crops that are eaten by humans or animals while APHIS is responsible for protecting agriculture from pests and disease, including making sure that all new GMO plant varieties pose no pest risk to other plants. When pesticides are bioengineered into food crops, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency becomes involved to make sure the pesticides are safe for human and animal consumption and do not pose unreasonable risks of harm to human health or the environment. Opponents criticize the deregulation process, say- ing the FDA does not require special testing of geneti- cally engineered foods for safety. FDA's position is that food derived from GMO plants must adhere to the same safety requirements under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act that apply to food and food ingredients derived from traditionally bred plants. A key government position is that it uses science as the foundation for sound decisions on policy, rulemaking, and regulatory approvals. Experts in scientific fields (e.g., plant pathology, botany, entomology, virology, ecology, environmental science, molecular biology, and biochem- istry) assess plant pest risk and analyze environmental effects while considering the most current peer-reviewed scientific findings. The FDA says those concerned about GMO crops can buy organic products, which, if labeled organic, must be free of GMOs. The FDA has said it has no objection to food manufacturers labeling food products as contain- ing GMO crops—and that it might be helpful to consum- ers to do so. But consumer demand is not a reason for requiring labeling, the FDA says. The FDA also says requiring labels would imply that there is something inherently inferior about food con- taining GMOs, and that would contradict its basic posi- tion that foods containing GMOs are not substantially different. The government agencies have made the GMO dereg- ulation process transparent in that applications and supporting documentation are posted on their websites and public comment periods are offered. Comments are posted for anyone to read. The comment periods—there were two for Arctic apples—focus on obtaining information relevant to the agency's mission—determining whether the food is safe or whether the GMO crop might in some way threaten the environment or be a pest to other plants. In its original comment period in 2012, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service received 1,939 com- ments on the petition, according a report on its website. Several of these comments included electronic attach- ments consisting of consolidated identical or nearly identical letters, for a total of 72,745 comments. Con- cerns raised related to marketing and economic impacts; cross-pollination; and health, nutrition, and food safety. The last comment period on Arctic apples closed in December 2013, and a decision from the inspection service has been expected for some time. • Joel Brooks with Okanagan Specialty Fruits discusses Arctic apples at the trade show during the Washington State Horticultural Association's last annual meeting. PHOTO BY TJ MULLINAX G o to goodfruit.com to find links to websites that follow the GMO debate. "I believe the best investment you can make in your orchard is the money you spend on frost protection." "We believe in Orchard-Rite® wind machines because they have delivered excellent protection and depend able service. We tried a different brand of machine a while back and found that the coverage and reliability was not what we had experienced with our Orchard-Rite® machines. Since then, we have purchased only Orchard- Rite® machines." Scott McDougall General Manager/Orchard Operations "Orchard-Rite's Auto-Start option has become quite valuable to us. It reduces the likelihood of machines being started 20 minutes late due to a sudden drop of temperature that was missed by the frost protection staff." Bob Murphy Operations Manager/ Columbia Basin Orchards McDougall & Sons are now adding this option to every new Orchard-Rite® machine they purchase, and have begun retrofitting this equipment to their machines in cold and isolated areas. ® Cascade Wind Machine Service 1615 W. Ahtanum • Yakima, WA 98903 509-457-9196 Sales: Virgil Anders, ext 114 3766 Iroquois Lane • Wenatchee, WA 98801 509-662-2753 Sales: Dana Morgan, ext 215 Dave Harmening, ext 214 For your nearest representative: www.orchard-rite.com Cascade Wind Machine Service 1615 W. Ahtanum • Yakima, WA 98903 509-457-9196 Sales: Virgil Anders, ext 114 3766 Iroquois Lane • Wenatchee, WA 98801 509-662-2753 Sales: Dana Morgan, ext 215 Dave Harmening, ext 214 For your nearest representative: www.orchard-rite.com Orchard-Rite® Wind Machines • www.orchard-rite.com OrchRite-McDougall3 jrH 5-1-12_OrchRite-Evans jrh 9-04 4/23/12 2:58 PM Page 1

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