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Australian soybeans are GE-free, however, this could change since FSANZ has approved GE soy for human consumption.
Enlarge imageA GE-free food industry
Major food companies in Australia including Unilever, Darrell Lea, Dairy Bell and Kikkoman have heeded consumer calls and vouched to keep GE out of their products. Other companies opt to exclude GE from their supply chains as part of their corporate social and environmental responsibility policy.
In order to implement a non-GE policy, food companies must source products from non-GE suppliers and resolve to have a GE-free production line. To do so, Greenpeace asks companies to remove:
1. whole and processed GE ingredients
2. refined foods that are derived from GE ingredients
3. ingredients derived from animals fed GE feeds
We have compiled a guide for Australian companies to help them adopt and implement a GE-free policy. It contains step by step instructions on how to achieve a non-GE supply chain. Download the Food Industry Kit (PDF).
GE-free farming
GE crops open up commercial risks for farmers, because consumers simply don't want GE foods. The solution for farmers is simple - don't plant GE seeds.
The biotech industry is trying to unleash 'terminator' technology into the environment. These seeds are genetically engineered to be sterile. They stop farmers saving and replanting harvested seed.
The technology has no benefits for crop growers. It is designed to transfer wealth from farmers to large agribusiness.
Terminator technology is currently banned in Australia, although the federal government has made underhand moves to lift the ban.
Farmers can resist the biotech industry's moves to introduce increasingly threatening techology like terminator by nominating their land a GE-free zone, joining a seed exchange program and planting only GE-free seed.
Going GE-free will help farmers protect their marketshare, both here and overseas. Export markets won’t buy GE. Following the introduction of GE canola in Canada, sales to Europe dried up. The same is true of US corn which is no longer sold to Europe and has lost important markets in Asia.
To really implement a 'clean, green' policy, farmers can consider going organic, which bans the use of all GE organisms.
Organic farming avoids artificial chemical fertilisers and pesticides. Instead, organic farmers rely on developing a healthy, fertile soil and growing a mixture of crops.
Organic animals are reared without the routine use of drugs, antibiotics and to high animal welfare standards.
The term organic is carefully controlled by a number of certification bodies who check and enforce high environmental standards.
