Follow-up on GMO Tomato

[an...@growingpeace.net]

When I first read about the GMO tomato being offered to home gardeners, I wasn’t sure of the implications.  I sent an email to a friend, Dr. Ray Seidler, who was a professor of Microbiology at OSU for 16 years and later worked for 17 years at the EPA as a Senior Research Scientist and GMO Biosafety Team Leader asking him what he thought about this.  (More about him below from his resume).  Full disclosure – we were both on the steering committee for the ballot initiative which established a law prohibiting the cultivation of genetically engineered crops in Jackson County, Oregon.

 

Interestingly, today I received the Our Family Farms Newsletter with an article he wrote prompted by my question.  Here is that article in case you are interested: https://www.ourfamilyfarms.org/gmo_purple_tomato_update?utm_campaign=april_2024_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_source=ourfamilyfarmscoalition

 

While this article is mostly focused on Ray’s questions around the effects of increased anthocyanins, one of my main concerns is related to the corporate control and privatization of our food and seed supply.  This article raises these issues (and includes the experience of Andrew Still from Adaptive Seeds - a recent presenter at the library series)  https://www.gmwatch.org/en/106-news/latest-news/20393-gm-purple-tomato-company-targets-non-gmo-seed-company-over-alleged-patent-infringement 

 

And on a more personal level, I wonder what will happen when the person in the plot next to me at the community garden wants to grow GMO vegetables and I want to save my seeds and prefer they not be crossed with genetically modified plant pollen?  More for me to learn here.

 

I hope these and future articles will help us continue to educate ourselves on this very complex issue. 

 

Anna

 

From resume of Dr. Raymond Seidler:

Professor, Department of Microbiology

Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon 1970-1986

 

Senior Research Scientist and GMO Biosafety Team Leader,

Terrestrial Plant Ecology Research Branch, U.S. Environmental

Protection Agency, Corvallis, OR. 97333 1984-2001

 

During his career Dr. Seidler studied:

(at OSU) the origins, and health significances of pathogens in surface

and drinking water, industrial and agricultural/forestry environments;

(at U.S.EPA) the development of methods to evaluate/predict the

survival, multiplication, gene exchange, effects, and dispersal of

recombinant organisms (GMOs or GE); Team leader/scientist, technical

advisor to the research team.

“Every morning I awake torn between a desire to save the world and an inclination to savor it. This makes it hard to plan the day. But if we forget to savor the world, what possible reason do we have for saving it? In a way, the savoring must come first.”
                                                                                                                                                                                                              E.B. White
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Anna Cassilly
Growing Peace
www.growingpeace.net
an...@growingpeace.net
541-301-7993
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[Jill S Farrow]

Thank you for your great work corralling information on this important topic for us, Anna!

I share the concerns Anna raised here-- both the GMO cross-pollination risk and the not yet researched potentially health promoting or harmful health impacts of consumption of magnitudes higher anthocyanins found in this first GMO tomato. And with the genie now out of the bottle, it is unknown what the health risks due to changes in aspects of nutritional factors in future commercial GMO crops or unintentional cross-pollinated crops may be. Thresholds matter in health, especially in our microbiome.

My hat is off to Anna and the folks on the steering committee for the ballot initiative which established a law prohibiting the cultivation of genetically engineered crops in Jackson County, Oregon! I didn't know about this. I wonder what your process was in educating voters that enabled that to pass in 2014 (!), and to withstand legal challenge in Federal Court (2016). What did OFFC learn from that process that might inform what we here could do in Benton county, or more widely in OR through League of Women Voters involvement (at least west of the Cascades, with east of the Cascades seemingly a bigger challenge.)

I think it would be very interesting and a real gift to the community if we could pull together a panel discussion event of experts on this topic. Perhaps in partnership with the LWV, so as to increase our reach? Hopefully Dr. Ray Seidler would say yes to an invitation. OSU Distinguished Professor Emily Ho, Director of the Linus Pauling Institute, studies antioxidants and gene expression and dietary chemoprevention strategies. Andrew Still of Adaptive Seeds would be another appropriate panelist given his concern related to GMO canola fields in the valley. Perhaps someone from the State of OR Department of Agriculture Food Safety Committee or other appropriate expert on the legal side, representing food safety legislation? Or someone from the OSU Small Farms Program?

Jill

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[Ruby Moon]

I think the most important take away is we get to vote with our dollars and knowledge. This information is so important, Anna. Thank you for sharing.

I have a great garden space(organic with drip irrigation SE facing).

It is interesting to think " unintended consequence " working here. I remember having a master gardening class back in 2004 which was taught by person selling round up saying it was perfectly safe and he would eat it. (Now dead from cancer). Now is it safe?

So easy to jump to the next new thing.

Personally I left my tech career back in 60's  when I felt it would ruin family life and our children...fast forward (or slowly) and now we try to legislate our problems away.

Still looking forward to more female leaders.

What committee  of LWV  are you on, Jill. Not sure who would take this up. I am on planning. Yes hard in Benton county with OSU. It's  all about who pays for research.

Ruby 

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[Kathleen Chambliss]

Hi all,

Anna, thank you for sharing this. I read through all the articles. Was a bit troubled by a lack of citations in Dr. Seidler's article, perhaps they were included on another page? Nonetheless, he brought up important ideas about how much anthocyanins might be too much, and how this is another unknown. These articles show how complex the issues of bioengineered foods are, and leads me to wonder how the average too-busy person is to navigate this complex web of issues. I love how your mind works, Jill. You already have a strong panel assembled! I'm thinking on two levels: 1. the need to personally understand more, and also the need to communicate this info effectively with folks who don't have the time to dig in to the complexity but want to eat and garden in ways that are healthy.

Appreciate the conversation.

with gratitude,

Kathy

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/food-action-team/CABwHvLXCaG0u4L4H2%3DhH%2BxfKqaNCSJj-0dBQTuUzAUsOeXGDTw%40mail.gmail.com.

[an...@growingpeace.net]

Thanks for the additional input, suggestions, and questions. 

 

You may want to read Dr. Seidler’s article here where he speaks on the issue with hyperlinks to source documents:  https://www.gmwatch.org/en/106-news/latest-news/20126-gm-purple-tomatoes-may-soon-appear-in-your-local-grocery-store 

 

I think educating ourselves is the first step.  And I have to admit that my brain doesn’t go there easily, which is why I turn to people like Dr. Seidler to help me interpret things.  I suspect he would be interested in a panel.  I am going to Jackson County mid-May for the Save Our Seeds 10 year anniversary of the passage of the ordinance.  I’m sure I will be seeing Ray and could talk with him then, or reach out to him sooner if that would be helpful.

 

Anna    

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/food-action-team/CAOt6B8YJypS%2BG5PJmWo4dq%3DchB%3D5M%2BsqSdiHFWbntvmuDO6Jnw%40mail.gmail.com.

[Kathleen Chambliss]

Thanks for the follow up info, Anna. I like to dig into sources to understand context, etc.

wishes all,

Kathy