2018 Spring Farm

Page 38 March 22, 2018 2018 Logan County Farm Outlook Magazine LINCOLN DAILY NEWS organic products must be certified, such as farms or handlers, processors, and vendors that sell products online or otherwise deliver organic products to a customer, and make more than $5,000 doing so. Other operations may voluntarily apply for organic status, but it is not required. Organic farming requires the growth of non- GMO products. Unfortunately, non-GMO products are not legally defined by federal or state government, nor are said products required to be identified as such. According to journalist Elaine Watson, the lack of a clear definition leads to trouble for organic farmers and food marketers. According to both the FDA and the USDA, a GMO is defined as “an organism produced through genetic engineering.” The closest definition we could come to for a non-GMO product is one that is not produced through any kind of genetic modification, nor influenced by products that are. By example, beef may be sold that claims to be from a cow that was never fed GMO’s. Examples of such statements that might be found on non-GMO related products include: “Not bioengineered.” “Not genetically engineered.” “Not genetically modified through the use of modern biotechnology.” “We do not use ingredients that were produced using modern biotechnology.” “This oil is made from soybeans that were not genetically engineered.” “Our corn growers do not plant bioengineered seeds.” The FDA currently does not require products to be labeled as such. One reason for this is because of the difficulty in interpreting the term genetically modified. According to the FDA guidelines: “because the term ‘genetically modified’ can encompass any alteration to the genetic composition of a plant, including alterations achieved through traditional hybridization or breeding techniques, that term could apply to most cultivated food crops since most food crops are the product of selective breeding. “An example of a food that is derived from a plant that has not been subject to any form of selective breeding might be berries collected from wild plant varieties.” The FDA guidelines reiterate that “the ‘O’ in the acronym ‘GMO’ refers to the word ‘organism…’ In light of potential confusion regarding the meaning of the acronym, the FDA encourages manufacturers to consider the use of other types of statements to indicate that a plant-derived food has not been produced using bioengineering.” In other words, because of the confusion surrounding these labels, the FDA recommends avoiding the term GMO in some instances, because to do so might involve accidentally mislabeling products. In addition, most individual customers (those not representing a corporation) do not buy entire organisms at one time, meaning that a GMO is not technically found on most store shelves. Every so often, a reminder of what these terms mean is useful for both farmers and non- Continue 8