GMOs deserve more consideration: farming expert
Posted March 4, 2014 7:42 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – People in the agriculture industry are reacting to a recent poll that found more than half of British Columbians want to see genetically modified organisms (GMOs) banned in Canada.
One former business owner says people opposed should give it some more thought, adding GMOs have a lot of benefits.
Noel Roddick ran a farm supply business for more than 40 years; he wonders how many people know how difficult it is to grow a crop and make money. He points out a lot of genetically modified crops are resistant to disease, which means pesticides are used less.
“People hate the thought that farmers use any kind of pesticides, but we’re using a lot less pesticides than we ever did before,” says Roddick.
He thinks there may be more public acceptance of GMOs if the company Monsanto, which started using the organisms, had been more open to answering peoples’ questions.
“[The company was] heavy-handed; by so doing, that’s why they’re not allowed in Europe… Monsanto went over there and told them, ‘You’re gonna have these things whether you like it or not.'”
A microbiologist with the University of Manitoba doesn’t see what the big deal over GMOs is. Rick Holley wonders whether opponents actually understand the risks.
“My sense is that the level of risk is perceived as being higher than it in fact, really is,” says Holley.
He adds Health Canada uses very stringent protocols to evaluate whether GMOs should be approved. “It establishes, in evaluating each of these on an individual basis, whether or not there are any gene modifications that could represent a threat.”
Regardless of what oppenents say, Holley believes the process is scientifically rigourous enough.
