The European Union's Reluctance to Embrace GMOs

One of the questions that was frequently asked by our Indiana Ag Leadership class in Europe was why the European Union (EU) has not embraced genetically modified organisms (GMOs) like farmers in the US.  The answers were very interesting.

A fact I did not know prior to our recent trip is that many EU countries do allow importation of GMO corn and soybeans from the US.  Such products are used as animal feed, even though the same products could not be sold on the shelves for direct human consumption (unless the proper labeling was attached). Thus, milk on the grocery store shelves in EU member states may have come from cows fed GMO corn.

Why patent law favors Monsanto.

It is rare that the United States Supreme Court takes a case that directly affects Midwestern corn and soybean farmers. That happened recently in Bowman v. Monsanto, where the Supreme Court held that Indiana soybean farmer, Vernon Bowman, infringed upon Monsanto’s Roundup Ready patent when he planted “commodity” soybeans he purchased from his local elevator that contained the Roundup Ready technology. Although many billed this case as David versus Goliath, in reality, this 9-0 decision suggests the law was pretty well settled in favor of Monsanto. There are good reasons why Monsanto won.

Is GMO Corn Killing Me?

A recent French study suggests that eating genetically modified corn will produce an increase tumors in mammals.  The study, published in the Food and Chemical Toxicology Journal, details the findings of French researchers after feeding Genetically Modified (GMO) corn (maize) and the herbicide Roundup to rats for two years.  Rats were divided in various groups, some were fed GMO corn at different levels, some were fed GMO corn and given doses of Roundup, some were only given Roundup, and few were left in the control group.  Gilles-Eric Séralini, one of the researches from the University of Caen in France, said:  “The results were really alarming”: