NW Michigan Food and Farming Network Report to the Community 2015 Report to the Community | Page 56

Food and Farming network

Non-GMO Project
and Northwest Michigan
More are voicing
concern in NW Mich.
By Bill Palladino
Michigan Land Use Institute
It’s difficult to wander the datastreams of the Internet these days
without bumping into the raging
debate regarding genetically modified organisms, known as GMOs.
GMO crops are a very recent addition to the production cycle of
American farms, and there exist very
few regulations regarding their use,
their distribution, or their labeling.
According to the nonprofit group
The Non-GMO Project, “GMOs,
are plants or animals created through
the gene splicing techniques of biotechnology (also called genetic engineering, or GE). This experimental
technology merges DNA from different species, creating unstable combinations of plant, animal, bacterial
and viral genes that cannot occur in
nature or in traditional crossbreeding. Virtually all commercial GMOs
are engineered to withstand direct
application of herbicide and/or to
produce an insecticide. Despite biotech industry promises, none of the
GMO traits currently on the market
offer increased yield, drought tolerance, enhanced nutrition, or any
other consumer benefit.”
In northwest Michigan there’s
a growing wave of concern about
the potential threat of GMO crops
and their unseen, unchecked,
movement into the food system.

Oryana Natural Foods Market in
Traverse City, and Grain Train Natural Foods with stores in Petoskey
and Boyne City both voice strong
arguments against GMO crops.
Oryana believes that there is
enough evidence to take precautionary action to get GMOs out of our
food to protect human and environmental health. Oryana is the largest
natural food cooperative in Michigan and when they talk, others listen. Citing numerous independent
research projects Oryana’s stand is
unequivocal: “We are strongly opposed to the proliferation of genetically modified foods and believe that
the use of GMOs contradicts our
mission of providing high-quality
food grown in ecologically sound
ways at fair value to member-owners
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and the community.”
Both Oryana and Grain Train are
registered members of the NonGMO Project, which is committed
to preserving and building sources
of non-GMO products. The project offers a Non-GMO verification
program, where verified producers,
retailers, and restaurants can post a
logo telling consumers that there is
no GMO product in the food they
offer. According to the Non-GMO
Project, “in the U.S., GMOs are in
as much as 80 percent of conventional processed food.”
To learn more about GMO
crops, visit Oryana’s store in
Traverse City, or Grain Train’s
stores in Petoskey and Boyne
City, or go to the project’s website.
www.nongmoproject.org