To protect organic crops and products form the “incursion” of rapidly developing genetic engineering, the National Organic Standards Board voted … to recommend USDA expand and strengthen the definitions of excluded methods under organic regulations.
…[B]oard members voted unanimously to recommend the US Department of Agriculture prohibit so-called GMO 2.0 technology from use in organic production, including new genetic-editing techniques, such as CRISPR and TALEN, and synthetic biology, such as that used to create vanillin flavoring.
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But at least one advocate for the reformed definitions and excluding the technology from organic also asked if doing so so could hinder the organic industry’s ability to adapt in the future.
Related on the SLP
“If some gene editing techniques are forever banned from organic seed breeding, will we eventually become a Luddite bevy of breeders?” Melody Meyer, VP of policy and industry relations for United Natural Foods, asked in an Organic Matters post before the NOSB meeting.
“Will we be putting ourselves at a disadvantage in the race to heal the planet of unsustainable farming practices? I don’t know the answers,” she added….
The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion and analysis. Read full, original post: NOSB votes to keep ‘GMO 2.0’ techniques out of organic
