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In the film, you refer to a report by Canada's top scientists which found major problems with the way GMOs are regulated. What were the report's recommendations and where can this report be found?
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The Royal Society of Canada's Expert Panel Report on the regulation of biotechnology can be found here. Because the Canadian government and Health Canada will not directly answer how many of the report's 53 recommendations have been implemented, the Polaris Institute conducted research to find out which ones were. Their report lists all 53 recommendations, finding that only 2 of the 53 were implemented. The Royal Society Report recommendations were primarily aimed to fix our inadequate regulatory system to make it more scientifically robust, more transparent, and more in-line with the precautionary principle.
Where can I find the recipes featured in the film?
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They can all be found here!
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The Canadian Biotechnology Action Network has researched this extensively and recently published an in-depth report on this topic. It can be found here. Other reports they have published include: Do We Need GM Crops to Feed the World? and Are GM Crops Better for Farmers?
I've heard GMOs are better for the environment, is this true?
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Are you against genetic engineering?
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No, I'm actually not opposed to genetic engineering. It's a powerful and
important technology that can help us better understand genomes and come up with important medical advances. However, I believe that using this technology in our crops and in our foods should only take place if the benefits truly outweigh the risks, if rigorous adequate regulatory systems are in place (they're not), and if full transparency, full disclosure and the precautionary principle are the pillars on which our food policies are based. There are many cheaper, faster, more ecological, and more democratic approaches to solving the world's most pressing agricultural challenges; genetic engineering as it is currently being used in our food is primarily a tool for biotech companies to make huge profits and control seed markets.
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Why did you want to make a film about GMOs?
A few years after GMOs were introduced, I read in an article that in Europe, Kellogg's cornflakes are made with non-GMO corn, but that here in North America, the same company makes the same product with GMO corn. Shortly after, I found myself living in Europe for two years, during the period when an official EU-wide GMO labeling policy was put in place. When I came home, I couldn't stop wondering why companies were manufacturing their products differently here and I wanted to find out why we don't have transparency when it comes to knowing if our foods contain GMOs. I also felt that the issue of GMO labeling very clearly illustrated the broader crisis of 'regulatory capture' that we face at this moment in history, whereby corporations exert tremendous control over our regulatory agencies and democratic institutions. The foundations of democratic governance begin to crumble when our governments and regulatory bodies place industry interests ahead of the interests of citizen, and the story of the fight for GMO labelling in North America illustrates this very well.
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