April 17, 2000 / The Kitchener-Waterloo Record / Jim Romahn
Both Small Fry Snack Foods of Kitchener and Hostess-Frito Lay of Cambridge
have, according to columnist Romahn, told potato farmers they won't buy new
varieties that incorporate a gene that produces Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt),
one of the safest insecticides available.
This policy comes in the context of a Greenpeace campaign to scare the
public and pressure food companies and supermarket chains to ban GMOs
(genetically modified organisms).
This means farmers have lost a safe and effective way of countering Colorado
potato beetles, which can strip a field of foliage. It also means most
farmers will rely heavily on Admire, an insecticide that poses greater
environmental and health risks than Bt.
It would be nice if these companies at least gave farmers and consumers a
choice, but the anti-GMO activists don't want us to have that choice.
(posted without permission)
