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Sidebar: Breaking the Agriculture/Biotech Bond
By Nathan Boone

US farmers have not embraced biotechnology because they wish to harm consumers. They have done so because they are trying to protect their farms in challenging times. Due in large part to overproduction and shortsighted farm policy, market prices for commodity crops are currently at a historic low. Adding this factor to rapidly increasing production costs (a.k.a. corporate greed) has put grain and livestock farmers between a rock and a hard place. Under such pressure, farmers readily adopt any new technology that promises greater yields, lower production costs, or more flexibility in farm management. And when it is the brightest scientists as well as the shining stars of government and the private sector who promote a new technology, it can seem like the panacea beleaguered US farmers have been looking for.

Modern Agriculture: An Economic Miracle for Everyone-Except Farmers Farmers have traditionally been the pawns of the US technology treadmill, and it’s happening again in the context of GE foods. In recent years, agribusiness has reaped obscene profits, and consumers have enjoyed the cheapest food in the world. But all of this boom-activity has taken place at the farmers’ expense. What might seem to be economic benefits actually have come at a tremendous social and ecological cost. Agricultural biotechnology is just the latest in a string of technologies developed by corporate agribusiness to increase profits for farm suppliers. For example, Monsanto, the manufacturer of Roundup-the world’s leading herbicide-developed the genetically engineered Roundup Ready soybean to increase the use of this herbicide in crop production without harming soybeans.

The rising consciousness over biotechnology and its ramifications provides a much-needed opportunity for us to understand how industrialized societies organize food production. Industrial agriculture’s ambition is to dominate our food supply for profit. Corporations such as Dow Chemical, Monsanto, Novartus, Agro-evo, and Dupont have been consolidating their dominance in agriculture through the acquisition of seed and agrochemical companies. Grain trading and livestock production in the US is monopolized by two of the world’s largest grain traders, Cargill and Continental, along with Archer Daniels Midland and Conagra corporations. Companies like Nestle, Unilever, and Philip Morris (the largest food retailer in the US), dominate our food supply, because they produce the majority of processed food products and also buy up most of the available supermarket shelf space. The rise of a global economy has turned these companies into oligarchs - able to mandate what is grown where, and by whom. The food choices for the US consumer are, in a word, dwindling.

Don’t Forget Consumer Power!
There are many ways consumers can stand up to the corporate/biotech control of our food supply. We can stop supporting the agribusiness food system, and, as Dr. Fagan notes, “vote with our pocketbooks.” This means supporting local food production systems, an investment that will enhance your family’s health, as well as support organic farmers and local economies while contributing to a healthier environment. Building a thriving network of gardeners and family farmers, along with a diverse local agriculture system, will help improve the safety of food. Here are a few steps we can consider:

Avoid processed foods (especially ones with unpronounceable ingredients)
Plan to start or share an organic garden and grow as much of your own food as you can Choose fresh, organically grown food in season, preferably from the home garden or a local farmer

Shop at local farmers’ markets and support organic farmers and food producers
Join a Community-Supported-Agriculture (CSA) farm that will deliver fresh organic produce weekly.

For more information about CSA farms, see www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/csa.

Why Organic?
Organic agriculture is a whole-system approach to ecological farm management that enhances soil fertility through crop rotation, aged-manure application, compost and mineral use, and the employ of mechanical, botanical, or biological controls to manage weeds and pests. Buying organic is also the best guarantee that GE organisms have not been used in the production or proces-sing of the food you feed your family. Although organic food is relatively more expensive than conventionally grown food, the nutritional superiority of organic produce should be taken into account, especially when comparing the value of fresh, local organic food to conventional or processed convenience foods. Consumers are pleasantly surprised to see how much further their food dollar goes when they reduce or eliminate their consumption of nutritionally poor “junk” foods.

Further, shopping organic sends an important message to the corporations that control the agricultural food system: we demand food quality and safety. Consumers and farmers can work together to bring about a shift in what agribusiness considers profitable, and can, in the long run, bring about improved accessibility of organic food, both in terms of availability and cost. This is what we need to strive for.

Nathan Boone is an organic farmer and activist who has worked with grassroots organizations in the US, Mexico, El Salvador, and India to promote sustainable agriculture.