USDA Report states that Genetically Modified Foods are on the rise in France
France is expected to experience an explosion in the planting of genetically modified (GM) corn crops this year, according to a recent United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) report.
The USDA Global Agriculture Information Network (GAIN) study reported that the planting of French Bt corn crops is expected to grow from approximately 500 hectares (about 1,236 acres) in 2005 to 5,000 hectares (about 12,355 acres). According to the report, the reason for expanding the growth of genetically modified corn in France is the pervasive presence of the European corn borer moth in Southern France.
“Bt corn is viewed as providing an effective and profitable remedy against the European corn borer in this region, which contains almost a third of the total French corn acreage,” stated Marie-Cecile Henard, an agricultural economist at the Foreign Agricultural Service office in Paris.
The GAIN study also suggested that the historical rejection of agricultural biotechnology in Europe is slowly fading away, and consumer acceptance of genetically modified foods throughout the nations of Europe is not that far behind. We all know about the World Trade Organization (WTO) ruling earlier this year, which stated that Europe had violated its trade rules by banning genetically modified food imports from 1999 to 2003, a ruling welcomed by the food industry in the United States that claimed the European Union (EU) ban cost them some $300 million a year in lost sales. The pro-GM lobby believes that overly stringent regulations in Europe, based on the public’s perception of the “dangers” of genetically modified foods rather than fact-based scientific evidence, resulted in the unnecessary rejection of new and significant genetically modified based products. The GAIN study, therefore, is welcome news for these biotech advocates.
Ms. Henard also states that more and more farmers in France are being won over by pro-GM arguments. She points out that while a Biotech Bill, which will set rules on genetically modified and non-GM crop coexistence, is still pending in the French parliament, farmers are adopting coexistence practices based on studies by the French corn growers association (AGPM) and the recommendation of seed companies.
Despite the GAIN report, high profile opponents of biotechnology and genetically modified foods in France have reaffirmed their commitment to continue to destroy fields that contain genetically modified crops. Thus far, these opponents have destroyed about 40 percent of genetically modified crop trials during the course of seven acts of sabotage, according to reports.
This GAIN study is good news. It shows that French farmers are seeing the benefits that genetically modified foods can bring, realizing they have the chance to increase their agricultural productivity, grow foods that are more nutritious, and combat pests that have damaged and destroyed their crops year after year. The country is also realizing the advantages that biotechnology and genetically modified foods can bring to individuals as well as to the French economy. It is a shame that anti-biotech advocates, like French radical farmer Jose Bove and other high-profile opponents, feel that GM crops are a “dangerous” and must be destroyed at all costs, when countless studies and research around the world have proven time and time again that genetically modified foods are safe.
Despite this opposition, I hope that France continues its efforts in planting genetically modified crops and that other countries in Europe start doing the same. As the Earth’s population continues to grow, biotechnology and genetically modified crops are going to be relied upon even more to feed and support individuals around the world, both now and in the future.
