US Rice Industry Opposes Plan to Grow Genetically Modified Rice in US
WASHINGTON - The U.S. rice industry wants the federal government to reject a plan to grow genetically modified rice in the Midwestern state of Kansas, saying the country’s growers would suffer “financial devastation” if modified crops contaminate the commercial supply.
Agriculture Department officials are considering a request by California-based Ventria Bioscience to grow rice engineered to contain human proteins on hundreds of acres of farmland near Junction City, Kansas.
The proteins can be turned into medicines to combat diarrhea, dehydration and other illnesses that kill millions of children in developing countries each year.
But in comments submitted this week to the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, the USA Rice Federation says rice producers cannot risk the loss of foreign markets that are spooked by the possibility that genetically modified rice could be mixed with edible rice.
“If Ventria’s pharmaceutical rice were to escape into the commercial rice supply, the financial devastation to the U.S. rice industry would likely be absolute,” the group said. “There is no tolerance, either regulatory or in public perception, for a human gene-based pharmaceutical to end up in the world’s food supply.”
The USDA granted preliminary approval for the Kansas project last month after concluding it poses virtually no risk. The rice will be grown hundreds of miles (kilometers) from other rice farms and will use dedicated equipment, storage and processing facilities to prevent seeds from mixing with other crops.
Still, the rice growers point to recent instances that call into question how effective safety precautions can be.
The rice industry is still reeling from the discovery last year of an unapproved strain of genetically modified rice, Liberty Link Rice 601, found in grain elevators. In another incident earlier this month, traces of unapproved genetic material were found in yet another type of rice seed.
Federation spokesman David Coia said both incidents disrupted foreign rice sales and have forced the industry to insist on stricter regulation. The rice growers want government regulators to determine potential health effects if pharmaceutical rice is eventually found in commercial rice.
“The cavalier ‘trust us’ approach should be considered the relic of a bygone era,” Coia said Friday.
Ventria president and CEO Scott Deeter called comparisons to the Liberty Link incident unfair because pharmaceutical rice is subject to much more stringent regulations.
“We have a totally dedicated supply system,” Deeter said. “We don’t sell seed and it’s a closed system of production. We use dedicated equipment all throughout.”
Deeter points to support from the American Farm Bureau and several Kansas farm groups that say they are satisfied with safety precautions.
Kansas officials have welcomed Ventria as part of an effort to grow the state’s bioscience industry. No commercial rice is grown in Kansas, but environmental and food safety groups contend weather or human error could eventually contaminate rice in other states.
Deeter said he hopes final permit approval will come in the next few weeks so rice planting can begin in April.
Associated Press Writer John Hanna in Topeka, Kansas, contributed to this report.
On the Net:
Ventria Bioscience: http://www.ventria.com/
USA Rice Federation: http://www.usarice.com/
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service: http://www.aphis.usda.gov/
Copyright 2007 Associated Press
We all must contact our representatives in Congress to stop the pollution of our food by genetic modification.
Please also contact the Secretary of Agriculture to stop this project at http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usdahome. Click on “contact” at the top of the page and follow to their ‘feedback’ email window.
Where are they going to find the water to grow rice in Kansas? That’s even insaner than GMO rice.
The most effective thing you can do is go over to over to Organic Consumers Asso. and join the multiple campaigns against GMO’s and supporting local organic farmers. The USDA and FDA are totally in the pocket of Cargill, Monsanto, ADM, and the likes. Trying to get yourself heard with most of your Congressional representatives is like spitting into the wind. They are also dancing with them that brung ‘em.
It’s only partly good news in that the article is somewhat misleading. The USA Rice Federation is a big proponent of GE rice (its website even puts them on the record as supporting deregulation of genetically modified foods) but only opposes this project on the grounds that it could hurt their bottom line (when educated consumers in Europe, Australia, Africa, South America, etc. refuse to buy their contaminated crops). As their website states, if the variety in question were approved by the FDA and overseas consumers were assured that it was safe (something I suppose they are hoping will happen over time), they would support the growing of this GE rice. Though the article implies it, they really don’t have the world’s future at heart. Nevertheless, I wrote them a letter congratulating them for their public stance on this particular issue.
My first thoughts were exactly what karlof1 wrote. Where in the
world are they going to find the water to grow rice? The water tables have already been depleted to such an extent that even crops which are normally grown in this part of the country are going to have difficulty growing corn or cereals. This isn’t even mentioning water for people do drink.
Add to this the uncertainty that the changing global climate is creating, and this whole idea seems even more ludicrous. Finally, rice was never meant to be grown in Kansas. And I haven’t even begun to question the wisdom of using genetically modified rice in the middle of our nations farming area.
I hate to sound like the type of person who sees some evil scheme behind so many things that are happening these days, but I can’t imagine any other reason for this absurd idea of growing rice in Kansas. It just doesn’t make sense.
Well, it does make sense if you follow the money. And I’m afraid that’s the only conclusion a sane and rational person can arrive at as an answer. This is just another way for a powerful multinational to rake in some cash with no view to the longer term effects.
So, here we go again. One more stupid idea being touted as something good and positive. This is one more example of capitalism without a conscience.
I think the Kansas plan may just be an experimental crop, not for large-scale growing (yet). In the UK over the past 10 years some similar test plantations of GE crops have been chopped down by anti-GE activists.