In the mid-'90s, amid much fuss, a biotech firm called Calgene introduced the Flav'r Saver tomato. Genetically engineered to last longer on the shelf, the Flav'r Saver didn't turn out to have much "flav'r" to save.
To make a long story short, consumers generally steered clear of it; farmers had trouble growing it; Calgene burned hundreds of millions developing and marketing it; and eventually ended up tossing it on history's compost pile. In the end, Monsanto ended up buying Calgene at a fire-sale price.
Not many people ever ate a Flav'r Saver tomato; but the tomato in effect ate a multibillion-dollar biotech firm.
Since that time, the GM seed giants have generally steered clear of fruit and veg, focusing instead on big, ubiquitous commodity crops like corn, soy, and cotton. (Monsanto raised eyebrows a few years ago by buying the world's biggest fruit-and-veg seed producer, but the company claims it has no imminent plans of genetic tampering.)
That's why I was so surprised to find this bit, buried in a Forbes article about the GM seed industry's charming habit of using exploited child labor and lots of pesticides to produce GM seeds in India:
In the neighboring states of Karnataka, Maharashtra and Gujarat, you find children producing genetically modified seeds for such vegetables as okra, tomatoes, chilies and eggplant, in the service of Syngenta, says Venkateshwarlu. The tomato and chili flowers are even smaller and more delicate than the cotton buds. The pesticides are more frequently applied, Venkateshwarlu says, and the pay is less, 5 to 10 cents an hour, even though the mandated minimum wage is 17 cents. Not so, Syngenta insists. "Our contracts require payment of minimum wage," says Anne Burt, a spokesperson, adding that Syngenta has a strict policy against child labor. The seeds are sold to U.S. farmers, the tomatoes and eggplant to U.S. consumers.
What? I don't recall the USDA or FDA approving GM eggplant; or a new tomato since the Flav'r Saver. This source claims "there are currently no GE tomatoes present in US markets either as whole tomatoes or in processed tomato foods."
I have emails into folks who follow the seed industry to figure out what's going on.
Leave it to the GM seed industry to combine so many issues in one swoop: child labor, exploitive wages, pesticide abuse, and, evidently, sneaking products onto market without anyone knowing.
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sloppymoose Posted 8:02 am
02 Mar 2008
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Jeremy Cherfas Posted 5:58 pm
02 Mar 2008
It's the kind of mistake a not-very-savvy writer might make.
Not that I'm condoning the use of underpaid child labour, just trying to get at the facts ...
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Pangolin Posted 6:27 pm
02 Mar 2008
Consider purchasing only open-pollinated seeds from a reputable heirloom varieties dealer. You will be glad you did as far as flavor and variety go.
Put the Carbon Back
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caniscandida Posted 7:15 pm
02 Mar 2008
Some relevant questions, regarding exploitation of children:
Does the child freely enter into the commitment to work at a paying job, or is the child pressured by an adult, e.g. a parent?
Is the work difficult for a child to undertake? Are the circumstances of the work dangerous, whether immediately or cumulatively?
May the child work as long as he or she likes, and then stop for the day, with the expectation of returning another day? Or, must the child work a certain shift, the completion of which may be wearying?
Does the job require the child to lose time from school, homework time, play time, eating, and sleeping?
Is the child payed a fair wage? Can the supervisor of payment be trusted? Do the child's wages go at once into the hands of the adult head of the household, for example the child's father? If so, how is the child rewarded immediately, otherwise? And if so, to whom can the child turn in case of wanting to complain about some mistreatment?
My suggestion is, children may indeed work at certain paying jobs, but the circumstances of their employment must be very carefully defined, any violation of which means unacceptable exploitation.
Are those circumstances present in India, in these GM plantations? It matters a great deal to all of us, in the community of living creatures, that exploitation of all the vulnerable, humans and non-human animals alike, be eradicated.
Chickens are our cousins! So are fish! So are other sentient animals! Let us learn to be kind.
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wiscidea Posted 10:10 pm
02 Mar 2008
I'd like to remind people that child labor is not a problem created by large ag companies and thier interest in producing hybrid seed. Much of what we take for granted is a product of child labor, a practice that must be stopped. Consider the children recycling your used computer and ither electronic hardware right now in Asia.
So when you decide to condemn hybrid seed, consider looking into what other products your should condemn. Where do your "natural" pesticides comes from? Who is harmed by the production of those materials?
I'm really looking forward to Tom Phillpot's investigation of where "natural" and "environmentally-friendly" pesticicides come from. Consider the following...
Pyrethrin is extracted from Chrysanthemum cinerariaefolium, grown on a large scale in Africa, especially Kenya. Do the growers employ child labor?
Neem is from a tree grown on plantations in Bangladesh, India, and China. They are cutting down forests and planting large numbers of these trees as an export crop. Do the growers in those countries use child labor? Oh... apparently they do... see Tom's post. I wonder if China takes advantage of political prisoners for estavlushing new plantations.
Rotenone comes from plants grown on a large scale in South America. Do they employ child labor on farms in South America?
I think ALL pesticides and ALL child labor should be eliminated from agriculture. I hope Tom can point out ALL the products we should boycott and tell us how to end the use of ALL pesticides.
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