In 1998, Luke Anderson learned that genetically engineered corn would be planted next to the large organic vegetable farm a mile down the road from his home in England. British author plans
lectures on crop geneticsBy Diana Leone
dleone@starbulletin.comAnderson started looking into the situation, and what he found shocked him.
Despite the fact that the organic farmer's corn could be cross-pollinated by the genetically engineered corn and cause loss of his organic status and income, the rights of the farmer were "completely disregarded by the government and by the (genetic engineering) industry," Anderson said in a telephone interview.
He did research on genetic engineering until he had enough to write a book, "Genetic Engineering, Food, and Our Environment," published in 1999.
Since then he has been an activist and researcher with the British-based Genetic Engineering Network, speaking extensively.
This week, he will give two public lectures in Hawaii:
>> 1:30 p.m. tomorrow Maui Community College, Hale 217.His purpose, Anderson said, is to increase public awareness of what genetic engineering is and where it is happening.>> 6:30 p.m. Thursday at McCoy Pavilion in Ala Moana Park.
"I think it's a good idea for the whole of society to decide if it's a good idea, not just those who stand to profit from it," he said.
In 2001, of the 50 million hectares of genetically engineered crops worldwide, 68 percent were in the United States, 22 percent in Argentina, 6 percent in Canada, 3 percent in China and 1 percent elsewhere, Anderson said.
A vast majority of genetically engineered crops are resistant to herbicides or insect pests.
A side effect can be weeds and insects developing resistance to the altered crops.
Meanwhile, a growing number of experiments place human genes in plants in an attempt to make pharmaceuticals, and the U.S. Food & Drug Administration has ruled that foods with genetically engineered ingredients do not have to be labeled.
Some of the more extreme genetic engineering efforts, such as goats that have a spider silk protein in their milk, "sound like science fiction," Anderson said.
"What's particularly worrying about Hawaii," Anderson said, "is, it's one of main locations for field trials. There have been more than 3,000 field trials in Hawaii in the past few years, partly because there are so many growing climates."
"For a lot of people around the world, genetic engineering has been a wake-up call," Anderson said.
For more information about Anderson's talks, contact Katie Barry on Maui at 874-8263 or katieba@hawaii.edu, or Chuck Garman on Oahu at 947-0936 or charlesgarman@hotmail.com.
U.S. Food & Drug Administration
Genetic Engineering Network