by Samantha Lowcock

 

Earlier this year Greenpeace destroyed CSIRO crops that were involved in Australia’s first genetically modified food trial.

 

It was a protest against genetically modified food and caused outrage in some scientific circles.

 

 

AUDIO

 

 

TRANSCRIPT

 

SAMANTHA LOWCOCK: When I started looking into Genetically Modified or GM foods I thought it was as simple as to modify or not to modify. I quickly learnt however the issue is much more complex. But what is genetic modification anyway? I asked ALEX JOHNSON.

 

ALEX JOHNSON: I’m a researcher at the University of MELBOURNE.

 

 

SAMANTHA LOWCOCK: His answer is pretty complex. Here’s the simple version. Genetic modification changes the basic make up of an organism. In the case of food, scientists are able to insert genes from other plants. They can to switch genes on and off. This can do things like make black roses, things that don’t happen naturally. For farming they can also make plants resistant to weed killers so the crops you want to grow won’t be killed off when you kill weeds. It’s the use of GM technology in food that get people riled up and passionate.

 

 

[nat sound: Hell no GMO, Hell no GMO, Hell No GMO]

 

 

But as ALEX told me there are a lot of different ways that biotechnology can be used. And they’re not all bad. Alex says he started with the goal of creating more nutritional rice and he’s using GM as a tool. He’s working with a non-for-profit group called Harvest Plus to eventually release the rice into third world countries.

 

 

ALEX JOHNSON: They have set targets with how high we should go with white rice so you could get enough iron from a daily serving of rice and that is 14 parts per million, so six is the best we’ve gotten from conventional ,14’s where we want to go doesn’t look like conventional can actually deliver that.

 

 

SAMANTHA LOWCOCK: They’ve managed to do this with genetic modification though.

From a scientific discovery come testing and trials and more testing. This is what has catapulted the GM issue back into the news recently as Greenpeace destroyed wheat crop trials. Scientist MARK TESTER from the University of ADELAIDE is pro GM and worked on the early stages of the GM rice mentioned earlier. He says that by destroying crops Greenpeace is standing in the way of potentially helpful science.

 

 

 

MARK TESTER: There’s no doubt they are standing in the way of science. Destroying field trials is doing exactly the opposite of what anti-GM campaigners are trying to do. They demand that we test the human and environmental safety of these products, and quite rightly so I should say and so we try to do experiments to do just what they wanted and then they destroy them. Its bizarre behaviour and only really done not for any real environmental concerns but just as a publicity stunt, to try and raise the profile of their concerns.

 

 

 

SAMANTHA LOWCOCK: I wanted to find out if Greenpeace was just acting out of the senseless vandalism for publicity stunts that MARK accused them of, or if they have valid concerns that should be shared by most Aussies.

 

 

 

CLAIRE PARFIT: We oppose GM in food as well as on the field.

 

 

 

SAMANTHA LOWCOCK: That’s CLAIRE PARFIT a GM campaigner for Greenpeace. I’m going to be honest when she started speaking about things in a way that sounded like rehearsed slogans I was sceptical. But CLAIRE did admit that this latest stunt, was done to stop the trail, but also to get people to talk about the issue.

 

 

 

CLAIRE PARFIT: There are thousands of people, millions of people, who know in Australia now that genetically modified wheat is being developed here who didn’t previously know and we’ve had the opportunity to talk about all the risks and issues that we see in the development of genetically modified wheat, and we think it’s important that the information be out there and that people have the opportunity to have a debate about what’s going on. Whilst there’s some argument about potential for nutritional enhancement there are also some substantial risks for human beings in consuming GM.

 

 

SAMANTHA LOWOCK: There are all types of arguments from the incredibly scientific to the downright ridiculous, one thing’s for sure it’s not going away anytime soon. So I figured I should talk to the people the introduction of GM food would be directly effecting, the farmers.

 

 

BEA WHINFIELD: I’m BEA WHINFIELD, I’m an organic framer in NUNNUP and have been on the same place for 27 years. Um Pork, Lamb, Beef, dairy, this is all on a small scale, horticulture fruit and veg, herbs, fungi just a lot of things, yeah.

 

 

 

SAMANTHA LOWCOCK: Bea says the introduction of GM crops near her farm means she could lose her organic licence if GM seeds blow over and contaminate her crops. Bea says this is a real threat. She’s watched fellow WESTERN AUSTRALIAN farmer STEVE MARSH who’s taken his allegations to the high court. He says a negligent GM neighbour caused his crops to get contaminated and so was he stripped of his organic licence to the high court. Bea says if this happened to her she’d lose her farm.

 

 

 

BEA WHINFIELD: We wouldn’t be in business anymore I suppose we would have to find a job somewhere it wouldn’t be farming because if I had to buy in seed it’s going to be quite an expense.

 

 

 

SAMANTHA LOWCOCK: So what does Bea think the answer is?

 

 

 

BEA WHINFIELD: I would like to see a lot more support for organic grower because it is the way of the future yeah when we’ve got this situation and this huge demand for organics and a lot of people being told by their certifying bodies ‘oh we can’t certify you because your neighbours spray a lot.’ That just seems very wrong.

 

 

SAMANTHA LOWCOCK: Scientist Mark Tester sees a different future.

 

 

MARK TESTER: It’s not the future but GM is definitely a tool that I think we should be able use and give it a chance to make a significant improvement to the world’s food production and the quality of food in the world.

 

 

 

SAMANTHA LOWCOCK: And Scientist Alex Johnson sees a different one yet again.

He knows the future of food in Australia is debatable. He’s just not going to get involved.

 

ALEX JOHNSON: I know GM is a big question in AUSTRALIA, and there is already GM technology here, 10 per cent of last year’s canola is GM. Some people like that some people don’t. That’s not what I’m trying to convince people for or against I’m just trying to help people who are suffering from iron deficiency. There are 2 billion people suffering from iron deficiency and that’s what I care about.

 

 

 Samantha Lowcock graduated from the RMIT journalism degree in 2011 and is a journalist with Prime 7

Samantha Lowcock explains.