(CSA Newsletter: Week 17)
Meet this week’s vegetables:
June has arrived! And just in time for its arrival, we finished our big spring plantings last week. In an eight day period, we managed to plant the following crops: potatoes, leeks, celery root, tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, lettuce, broccoli, sweet corn, beans, carrots, winter squash, summer squash, Brussels sprouts, basil, parsley, beets, and more!
In total, we filled just about two acres over that period of time, representing a large portion of our main season crops as well as ones destined for fall and winter eating. We will continue planting throughout the season, but this early spring planting push is the biggest by far. Now we just need to tend crops for awhile — also a big job.
But we’re up to it! Our employees Daniel and Erika have been awesome as we tackle all sorts of big farm tasks, so we feel confident that the four of us will keep the fields well tended.
In addition to planting, the four of us have also been talking about an alarming farming incident here in the Willamette Valley. We were alerted last week by our farmer friend Frank Morton that a Corvallis area nursery inadvertently sold a potting mix contaminated with genetically modified sugar beet roots. Literally, the bags contained whole living roots, which can take root again in someone’s garden and grow to maturity.
As an organic seed grower, Frank is concerned because of the potential contamination of his organic chard crop. Chard and beets are the same species and can cross-pollinate up to five miles away from each other. Because of this, seed growers in the Willamette Valley have a strong commitment to cooperating around seed ‘isolations.’ No one wants to risk contamination of their seed crops, so growers voluntarily mark their crops and sites on giant maps in order to avoid being too close to each other.
Even with the agreements, Frank became nervous recently when the USDA approved the production of ‘RoundUp Ready’ genetically modified sugar beet seed in the Willamette Valley. As an organic grower, Frank needs to be concerned with integrity of his seed. Organic markets will not purchase seed that has been even minimally contaminated by GMOs. The isolation agreements were his consolation: other farmers growing GM sugar beet seed would also be concerned about the possibility of crossing with Frank’s chard.
The possible presence of GM beets growing in home gardens all around Frank’s Philomath area farm, however, changes the situation significantly. Certainly, the handful of beets in each bag won’t create a large amount of pollen, but enough to possibly contaminate Frank’s Golden chard crop this year. This situation is of immediate interest to us, because we grow Frank’s Golden chard (you possibly received some in your braising mix last week). As organic growers, we too are committed to producing vegetables that are free from GMOs.
Frank is working to bring the issue to the attention of the USDA, the media and the public, but it’s an uphill battle to say the least. At this point, genetically modified crops are still incredibly new on the scene and are under very little scrutiny here in the United States (Europe is a different matter). What is especially difficult is that most American don’t have even the most basic understanding of what genetically modified seeds are and how they differ from every other type of seed that has ever come before.
This lack of understanding was evident in the online comments posted by readers in response to the recent Corvallis Gazette-Times article covering the issue. One commenter, J Lee, said, “Do you like Hood, Benton, or Northwest strawberries? All are genetic clones … we’ve had genetic modified crops coming from OSU since the land grant status was provided.”
Well, no. Quite simply: no, no, no.
Why was J Lee so darn wrong? There is a vast incredibly significant difference between ‘cloning’ (i.e. vegetative propagation) and genetic modification. The strawberries he’s referring to are genetic clones, just as are the potatoes we planted in our field last week. When a plant is capable of reproducing via it’s own vegetative material (roots, leaf, tuber, etc.), the resulting new plant is genetically the same because it’s simply a new separate version of the first plant. This kind of ‘cloning’ (more accurately ‘propagation’) is as old as life itself. Humankind has simply intervened and utilized this reproductive method.
But, originally, the first Hood strawberry plant was created the old fashioned way: sex. Pollen from one flower was transferred (albeit possible on the end of a Q-tip in a greenhouse) to another flower. OSU researchers field tested the resulting seeds and then propagated from the successful plants. This process is called ‘selection,’ and it is the scientific harnessing of completely natural pre-existing processes. There are inherent limitations to the process, namely that organisms can only reproduce with other compatible organisms — OSU can’t cross a tomato plant with a strawberry, no matter how much they’d like to.
Genetic engineering breaks those rules. By fiddling with plant material at the genetic level, scientists are able to ‘insert’ genes from different species, not to mention different kingdoms of life. The bacterium Bacillus thuringensis (Bt), which has a natural insecticidal property, has been successfully inserted into corn genes and is currently grown in the Midwest. And, genes that make plants resistant to Monsanto’s RoundUp herbicide have been successfully inserted in a wide variety of crops: corn, soybeans, and of course sugar beets.
So, why should we care? Briefly:
Ecologically speaking, the consequences of these new technologies on the environment are still unknown. Although they’ve been around for over a decade now, that’s not even a blink in the time span of agriculture or ecology.
Economically speaking, genetically modified technologies are owned by their parent companies, meaning that the seeds are strictly regulated in ways that non-GM seeds never were. The actual genetic information is patented — which means that a farmer whose seed crop is contaminated (such as Frank’s) could actually be sued by Monsanto for patent violation. Monsanto is winning such suits right now.
Biologically speaking, the affect of these genes on the quality of our food is yet to be known. Again, the tested time span is too short to know whether GM crops are healthy for the human organism to eat. Meanwhile, they are entering our food supply without labels. Currently, if you eat any soy related product that is not organic (and makes no claims about GM purity), it contains GM soybeans. The same is true for most corn-derivative products and soon to be true for many process foods containing beet sugar. Here are example foods that you may eat: breakfast cereals, energy bars, chocolate bars, fast food, and more.
That’s just the beginning. Ultimately, I think what bothers organic farmers and eaters like Frank Morton and Casey and me is the matter of choice. We cannot choose to avoid GM foods currently except by buying organic. And, because plant sexual reproduction continues after genetic alteration, we may end up being forced to grow or eat some GM material without our consent. For us, this is a moral issue. Why should a handful of large corporations mandate the existence of persistent, reproducible genetic material in the natural world?
Obviously, one short essay can only scratch the surface of this issue, which is intertwined with numerous complex questions about modern agriculture and its methods. But we will continue to discuss these and other topics while we bunch kale.
Spring is passing away as we work, plant, talk — June is here, with summer in its wings. Enjoy this week’s abundance of fresh greens!
Your farmers, Katie & Casey Kulla
