Animals are affected by GE crops.
Not surprisingly, when given a choice, all animals refuse to eat GE feed and go to great lengths to find other food.
For example, a retired farmer in Iowa decided to try an experiment one year. Normally, he left feeders of corncobs out for the squirrels. This particular year he decided to put some Bt corn in some of the troughs. While the squirrels never touched the Bt corn, he had to keep refilling the bins of natural corn.
To see what they would do, he stopped refilling the bins of natural corn during a harshest period in the winter. The squirrels went elsewhere for their food and still refused to touch the Bt corn. The farmer then felt sorry for the squirrels and put out more natural corn.
This is but one example of animal wisdom.
Geese:
For years, an Illinois farmer planted soybeans on his 50-acre field. This attracted a flock of geese that took up residence in a pond nearby. Since geese are creatures of habit, they returned to the same field year after year. One year, however, the farmer noticed that the geese were eating only from a specific part of his field. As a result, the beans grew only ankle high. It appeared that the geese were boycotting the other part of the same field where the soybeans were growing waist-high. Upon inspection, the farmer realized that the geese were eating only the non-GE soybeans. A visiting veteran agricultural writer, C.F. Marley said, “I’ve never seen anything like it. What’s amazing is that the field with Roundup Ready beans had been planted to conventional beans the previous year, and the geese ate them. This year, they won’t go near that field.”
Cows:
I do not know if this was the same Iowa farmer as the one who fed the squirrels, but this farmer harvested both GE corn and natural corn on his property. Curious as to how his cows would react to the Bt corn, he filled one side of his 16-foot trough with the Bt corn and the other with the natural corn. Normally, his cows would eat as much as was available, never leaving leftovers. But when he let 25 of his cows into the pen, all of them congregated to the side with the natural corn. When it was gone, they only nibbled at the Bt corn, then quickly walked away.
A couple of years later, this same farmer (Howard Vlieger) attended a conference of farmers to hear presidential candidate Al Gore. Troubled by Gore’s unquestioning acceptance of GE foods, Vlieger asked him to support a bill that called for labeling of GE foods. Gore responded that there was no difference between GE and non-GE foods. Vlieger respectfully disagreed and told him about his cows, adding that his cows were obviously smarter than those scientists! The room erupted in applause prompting Gore to ask if other farmers had noted a difference. About 15 hands went up from farmers across the country. All of them said that their cattle would not touch GE corn, adding that many experienced their cattle breaking through fencing and walking right through a field of GE corn to get to the non-GE variety.
Cows and Hogs:
Another farmer with a background in biochemistry tried another experiment. For two years in a row on half a dozen farms in Iowa, he watched as cows and hogs demonstrated a natural instinct to gain a balanced diet. The animals would only sniff at bins of Bt corn but would eat the shelled natural corn. A third bin containing feed with twenty-three vitamins and minerals were also placed before them. The animals alternated their choice of bins showing a preference that changed with the seasons and climate while still avoiding the Bt bins. This demonstrated a natural inclination to follow the needs of the body rather than what humans thought was necessary for them.
Hog-breeders in Iowa attributed temporary breeding problems to feed from GE corn. As soon as the feed was changed to a non-GE variety of corn, the problem was reversed and the hogs began to breed again. Representatives from the company who made the feed denied any problem with their product. However, farmers refused to use it anyway, even though the cause was never officially determined.
Mice:
The Washington Post reported that mice, usually happy to munch on tomatoes, were refusing the genetically engineered FlavrSavr tomatoes. Eventually, scientists had to force feed the mice through gastric tubes and stomach washes. As a result, several mice developed stomach lesions and seven of the 40 died within two weeks. Nevertheless, the tomato was approved for human consumption without further tests. In the wild, mice leave GE crops alone. A farmer in Holland verified this when he left two piles of corn in his mice-infested barn. One pile was GE and the other natural. The GE pile was left untouched while the other was completely eaten up.
Elk:
In Minnesota, some captive elk had escaped and made a home in a field of organic soy and corn completely, ignoring the open access to a neighbors GE crops.
Raccoons:
A similar reaction was seen in raccoons that ate only from fields of organic soybeans but left the Roundup Ready variety alone.
Butterflies:
In 1999, a storm of controversy erupted when the public saw how Monarch butterflies were being affected by GE crops. The leaves of their favorite milkweed plant had been dusted with pollen from Bt corn and fed to the butterfly larvae. Half of them died. Those that were fed on the leaves containing pollen from conventional corn survived. Later, Iowa State University conducted a similar test in actual field conditions and found the same results: monarch larvae died after eating milkweed leaves containing Bt pollen. To counteract these accusations, the biotech industry responded with its own studies. Not surprisingly, the studies concluded that the GE corn presented negligible risk to the Monarchs. Researchers from Iowa State University pointed out that those studies were based on the assumption that monarchs consume only pollen and not such other corn tissues as anthers, which the butterflies do eat and which contain high concentrations of Bt toxins.
Birds:
There is little doubt that bird species are disappearing at an escalated rate all over the world. It is particularly noticeable in Great Britain where almost 80% is farmland. The use of chemicals in agriculture since the 1950s, intensive farming of single crops, and the dismantling of many hedgerows that provide habitat for many species are mainly to blame. The English are enthusiastic bird-watchers with about 1 in 50 belonging to a birding society. They have watched the steady decline of bird species at an alarming rate: the song thrush saw a 65% drop between 1975 and 1993 with skylarks declining by 49% and blackbirds by 40%. Similar results are seen in other bird species. Studies have shown that bird song is actually vital for the growth of trees and other plants. It is little wonder that Great Britain is concerned about GE crops, not only for the health of its citizens, but also for the health of bird species that plants depend on for their own survival. One British woman summed up thoughts on biotechnology by saying “There are profits to the companies, and benefits to the farmer, but any risks will be borne by society as a whole.”
GE Animals:
Animals never have escaped GE manipulation and are, once again, the focus of new experiments supposedly designed to improve upon nature – better sheep wool, new and improved cow’s milk, disease-resistant poultry, leaner pork, bigger fish, and the list goes on. These “Living Factories” (called “pharmed” animals in the industry) are also raised to produce pharmaceutical products, and thus the name. Some examples are:
- Italian scientists have manipulated swine sperm to create pigs that have human genes in their hearts, livers, and kidneys. The aim is to produce a breed of pigs with organs that can be removed for transplants into humans.
- A Canadian company has inserted spider genes into female goats so they can express spider silk proteins in their milk with the goal of creating a stronger fiber.
- US livestock breeders have produced hundreds of cloned animals,including milk cows and sheep. In 1997, Scottish scientists cloned the first animal, Dolly the sheep, and later crossed the embryos of a goat and a sheep to create a ‘geep’, an animal with the head of a goat and the body of a sheep. Such animals are declared safe to eat according to US regulators.
- A Massachusetts-based company, Aqua Bounty Farms, has GE salmon that grows twice as fast as conventional salmon. Environmentalists are concerned that if any of these salmon escape to interbreed with wild salmon, the species could be threatened. While the FDA is still reviewing the application, at least 200 chefs, grocers, and seafood distributors have pledged not to purchase the transgenic salmon. Washington state has also banned GE salmon from its waters.
- One early GE marker researchers used was a gene from fireflies that produced luciferase, the enzyme responsible for making the firefly’s tail glow. In GE experiments, plants into which the firefly gene had been incorporated lit up while plants without the luciferase gene did not. This gives pause to wonder if this was a ploy to force the already overworked farmer into working even longer after dark.
