I noted how an Australian farmer was suing a neighboring farmer for contaminating his organic fields with Monsanto’s GM seed, potentially changing the dynamic in how fields can be protected. Rather than go after the seed giant itself, which has never lost a case, suing the individual farmers who’ve caused the cross-contamination may cause Monsanto to become a pariah among seed buyers.
Now both Bunge and Cargill, the biggest U.S. grain exporter, have said they will refuse to accept Syngenta’s latest crop of GM corn for export because it will be rejected by China.
The exporters have said they don’t want either of them until China approves the genetic modifications, and last month the National Grain and Feed Association and North American Export Grain Association sent Syngenta a letter asking the company to immediately shut down commercialization of both Agrisure Viptera and the new Agrisure Duracade corn unless and until it gets an international seal of approval. While the trade associations support the creation of GM crops, they don’t do so if the economic harm they’ll create will crush their farmers.
Interestingly, Syngenta acknowledges that many U.S. grain elevators have long posted signs saying they didn’t want to accept Viptera corn, so the biotech says the letters aren’t really any new stance by the industry, just a long-held position that it’s otherwise chosen to ignore. Yet the backlash against genetic modification of food continues to mount.
Read the full original article: More Cracks Appear in GMO Wall
