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Dear Mr. Colson:

I respectfully take exception to your BreakPoint editorial of March 16, 2010, “Genetically Modified Famine: Ideology and the Poor.” The Institute for Food and Development Policy says that world hunger is not a food production problem, but is a food justice problem. In 2008, enough food was grown globally to feed over 11 billion people—a staggering 4,000 calories per day, roughly twice what a human requires for sustenance.

As Christians, caring for our neighbors is the second great commandment, but seeing to the resources we have been given falls within our purview as stewards as well, and genetically engineered life is proving not to be a good use of our stewardship responsibilities.

Genetically modified crops once appeared to offer great promise, but as the Union of Concerned Scientists explains in its March 2009 study, genetic engineering has failed to significantly increase U.S. crop yields despite twenty years of research and thirteen years of commercialization.

The great increase in genetically modified crops grown for human sustenance and animal feed owes more to the governmental subsidies paid for these crops than to their overall effectiveness as a food source.

That the seeds and the corresponding herbicide and pesticide which permits their growth may only be purchased the same company is telling, as is the agreement farmers must sign to purchase the seed. This contract includes the following onerous provisions:

o   Farmers signing this agreement have agreed to waive all of their rights under the Federal Privacy Act.

o   Farmers cannot save any seed or provide any seed to others.

o   Farmers must allow the manufacturer access to their fields to inspect crops and to determine the farmer’s compliance with the contract.

o   There is no time limit to this contract—the company is authorized to examine the farmer’s documents, fields, and crops even after the farmer has stopped using the company’s seed.

o   The company will not honor any warrantees if the farmer does not also use the company’s approved chemicals with the company’s GM seeds.

This agreement does nothing to protect farmers or encourage food growth in developing countries; it protects only the profits of the manufacturer.

Perhaps more alarming is that genetically modified organisms are patented life forms according to the U.S. Supreme Court decision Diamond v. Chakrabarty. The company creating the genetically modified seed “owns” the plants created with that seed. This burgeoning monopoly is increasing food scarcity and prices—the price of genetically engineered seed has increased 10% over last year, which will not benefit developing countries in their quest to feed their populations—all while decreasing the safety and security of our food. Indeed, the FDA has put the fox in charge of the henhouse, issuing only a voluntary guidance recommendation on the testing of bioengineered plants by the companies that produce them. In fact, in order to purchase GMO seeds, farmers must agree that no independent testing of the seeds will take place.

Meanwhile, the prospective health dangers of consuming GMOs have been documented since 1989. Herbicide-resistant superweeds are becoming more and more common. The total pesticide and herbicide load on land growing genetically modified crops is far greater than on conventional land and is increasing.

And now that genetically modified and patented plant life has been approved by our government, the next step is to genetically modify and patent animal life, which has already occurred in the case of Canada’s Enviropig. The next logical step down this slippery slope is the genetic engineering and patenting of human life.

Anti-GMO ideology is not exclusive to the political left. Shenandoah Valley farmer and man of faith Joel Salatin is among those leading the fight against GMOs. Salatin’s website says that he is “in the redemption business: healing the land, healing the food, healing the economy, and healing the culture.” This self-styled Christian Libertarian Capitalist Environmentalist Lunatic Farmer is just one of many who believe that what God has created in His wisdom should not be dissected and reassembled for our own selfish reasons; that the food He created for our bodies is profoundly superior to that which we can create in a lab; that His method of food production honors Him and the earth He created far more than the patenting of life for profit. We believe the words of Isaiah 55:10–11 to be instructive:

“As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”

The plant that does not yield seed for the sower but for the seed company returns to the farmer empty. Our growing dependence on GMOs asks the farmer to mortgage his future for the profits of a few.

This post is part of Real Food Wednesdays, hosted by Kelly the Kitchen Kop.