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How to Avoid Growing GM Plants in your Garden

In my recent post about GM foods, I talked about how to avoid eating them, but what about growing them?

You would be surprised how alarmed many people get when I tell them I get many of my garden seeds from the US. They ask me if I am afraid of importing GM seeds into Europe. Of course this is a concern all of us should have, but understanding the problem can also help put it into perspective.

First the problem of GM contamination is worldwide, it’s not just the US. Secondly, there are a limited number of crops that have commercially grown GM varieties, and if you don’t grow one of these crops in your garden you are very unlikely to encounter GM contamination issues. Thirdly, of those crops that do have GM varieties, not all of them are out-breeding (plants whose pollen is spread from plant to plant by insects or wind), meaning the contamination would be unlikely to spread beyond my garden even if it did occur. Perhaps most importantly, I grow heirloom plants, not GM varieties and there are usually distinct differences between the varieties and I would almost certainly notice if cross pollinating were occuring. If any unintentional cross pollination occurred in my plants I would normally discard the affected seeds.

I also get my seeds from people I trust, and who themselves care deeply about the problem. With the exception of corn (which I will discuss more in a minute), I would be unlikely to receive GM seeds from someone unless it was a deliberate act, and I have to trust the people who send me seeds not to do that.

The problem of contamination is much greater in processed foods, and centralized distribution and processing, as I described in my earlier post.

From my earlier post, lets consider the crops where there is a commercial GM variety:

  • potatoes
  • tomatoes
  • soy
  • long grain rice
  • corn (maize)
  • rape (called canola in the US)
  • Quest tobacco (sold in the US)
  • cotton (used for cotton seed oil used in cooking)
  • Hawaiian papaya
  • a few zucchini and yellow squashes (courgettes).

Of these, the potatoes and tomatoes have been withdrawn from the market, and in any case are not out-breeding plants.

Rice, tobacco, cotton and papaya won’t grow in my climate, so for me at least these are not an issue.

I do grow soy. Soy is not out-breading, and in any case the varieties I grow are distinct enough that I think I would notice if any cross pollinating did occur.

I don’t have any plans to grow rape.

I do grow squashes, and I suppose this is a risk. The production level of GM varieties of these plants is very low, and like I said I do trust my seed sources. These type of plant is insect pollinated, so the contamination can only travel as far as an insect can fly. If it seems like the risk of growing this plant increases, I will reconsider having it in my garden.

Corn is really the biggest problem. The pollen from corn spreads very long distances in the wind, and probably there are very few places in the world where there is not at least a little contamination. On one hand growing corn can introduce GM contamination into my garden, and on the other hand not growing heirloom varieties will decrease the availability of these seeds to other gardeners. In my case not very much corn is grown in the area around my garden, so there are not likely to be a lot of cross pollination issues.

If you use common sense, nothing should keep you from growing the plants you want in your own garden. Use seed sources you trust. Think about what you are doing when growing out-breeding varieties of plants where GM varieties are commercially grown.

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How to Avoid Eating GM Foods and Other Products

Recent polls in the US have suggested more than 80% (some polls suggest more than 90%) of all people think GM food should be labelled as such, and more than half of these people say the reason they support such labelling is because they would like to avoid eating it. It turns out many people don’t understand that even in the absence of such labelling it is possible to reduce or eliminate your consumption of genetically engineered products. In this post I am going to explain how to do this.

Even though Europe has some laws protecting the food supply from GM organisms, there are many loopholes and weaknesses in these laws. There are many steps Europeans can take to avoid these genetically engineered products as well. In fact these steps can be taken by anyone regardless of where they live.

Why avoid consuming genetically engineered products?

For many people this isn’t an important issue, and this post probably isn’t for them. In fact this post is not intended to offer dietary advice to anyone. However, if you are someone who prefers not to consume genetically engineered products, here are some ideas on how to go about doing that. For an excellent in-depth analysis on reasons for being concerned about eating genetically engineered products, I would refer you to the excellent website, books and videos published by Jeffrey M. Smith.

For those of us who prefer not to eat genetically engineered products, it’s important to understand these products are not created for our benefit. They are not created because they are a solution to world hunger, in a world that already produces too much food. They are not created to benefit farmers who are already suffering from the food gluts on world markets and costs associated from growing patented seeds. They are not grown for the benefit of food processors or distributors. They are grown solely for the benefit of a few politicians and corporations who want to control the world food supplies, through patents, laws, treaties and other means.

When we show a preference by not buying and eating these products, there is a backwards ripple effect. When we demand from our local food outlets GM free foods, they demand the same from their suppliers, who in turn demand the same from farmers. It is not necessary for many people to make these demands to be heard, and a GM food consumption drop of 5-10% will make a very big difference and be noticed very quickly. Reducing our consumption of GM foods is the most effective way we as individuals have of showing the way they are being forced on us is simply unacceptable.

GM crops

There are commercial varieties of genetically engineered potatoes, tomatoes, soy, long grain rice, corn (maize), rape (called canola in the US), Quest tobacco (sold in the US), cotton (used for cotton seed oil used in cooking), Hawaiian papaya and a few zucchini and yellow squashes (courgettes). Of these, the tomatoes and potatoes are not currently on the market and rape and cotton seed oils are more common in North America that other places. Soy, corn and long grain rice are the most important for people wishing to avoid eating GM foods.

Apart from traditional crops, some products are made using genetically engineered bacteria. The most widespread of these products is the rbGH a growth hormone used to increase milk production in cows, aspartame (NutraSweet) and rennet (often labelled as vegetarian) used for making hard cheese. In addition many enzymes, flavorings, processing agents, food supplements and pharmaceuticals are made from genetically engineered bacteria.

GM grains like corn and soy are frequently used as animal feed. This is true even in Europe, where the ban on GM food products does not cover animal feed. Honey can have GM material when the bees can collect pollen from GM plants.

Even in Europe where many GM foods are prohibited, many other GM foods are on the market. As mentioned before, animal feed is allowed to contain GM material, meaning almost all animal products will contain GM material. The ban on GM foods does not include products previously approved, which among other things means hard cheese can be made with GM rennet. In addition 0.9% GM contamination is allowed, even where GM products are otherwise not allowed. Labelling GM foods is required, but only where the percentage of GM material exceeds 0.9%. There is also no routine testing of foods for GM contamination, so if GM contamination exceeds permitted levels, probably no one would know.

Centralized distribution and processing

In centralized distribution products from all farmers are mixed, processed and then distributed. Doing this insures if there is any contamination of any kind, it will be spread throughout the entire process.

The days are mostly gone where we buy food directly from the farmer. Some of us may live near farmers that sell their own food, or we may buy some of our food from farmers at a market, but for many of us this is not an option. Most of us buy at least some of our food from supermarkets, restaurants and fast food outlets, who in turn buy the food for us. Nearly all farmers sell their products directly to food processing and distribution companies.

Many people don’t realize how few of these companies there are. For example, in the US, nearly all meat goes through one of just a handful of meatpacking companies. Recently there was an outbreak of E Coli in the US due to contaminated spinach, and this outbreak was nationwide because it turned out nearly all spinach in the US was processed by a single company. This concentration of food processing and associated contaminations turns out to be one of the biggest challenges when it comes to avoiding genetically engineered foods.

There is a great deal of financial pressure in this centralized distribution model. Farmers are often expected to produce crops for less than their own costs. Fortunes can be made or lost when prices vary by just a few cents, and the temptation to substitute a cheaper (possibly illegal) GM crop while claiming it to be GM free can be very tempting. There is usually no way to tell the difference between a GM and non-GM crop by just looking at it, so this kind of dishonesty is very hard to detect.

An important aspect of food processing are the additives used, nearly all of which are derived from soy or corn, and so can contain GM material. A partial list of corn products is: vegetable oil, high fructose corn syrup, citric and lactic acid, glucose, fructose, maltodextrin, ethanol, sorbitol, mannitol, xanthan gum, modified and unmodified starches, dextrins, cyclodextrins and MSG. The most common soy products are soy lecithin and cooking oil. These are just partial lists, and there are many more products. Most processed foods contain at least one of these additives.

Certified Organic (Biological) Foods

Recent changes in both Europe and the US require food certified as organic to also be GM free. At the moment there is a transitional period where for some components of processed foods, GM free certification can be made on the sole basis of written statements by suppliers. Eventually all components of certified organic foods will have to be certified GM free.

What does this all mean?

It all comes down to this. If you want to eat GM free food, almost anywhere in the world, you have to avoid the following: meat or other animal products that are not from completely grass fed animals, honey, products made from soy, corn or rice (which includes almost all processed foods), Quest tobacco, Hawaiian papaya, cotton seed or canola (rape) seed oils, products containing aspartame sweetener, all hard cheeses and many drugs and food supplements (check with your doctor or pharmacist). Exceptions for all of these are for certified organic products.

Is there anything I’ve missed? Please let me know.

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Easy Plants for Seed Saving

[Update:  I wrote this post in 2007, and now it’s 2012.  I see in my log files suddenly a lot of people are reading this post again, probably because a number of you have posted it to Facebook.  That’s great!  Welcome to the exciting world of seed saving!

It’s not that what I wrote is wrong or out of date, but now looking back 5 years if I were to write this post today, I would spend more time talking about inbreeding depression.  If you are saving seeds from a plant that doesn’t need isolation like peas, beans or lettuce, you also don’t need to worry very much about inbreeding depression.  You may also choose not to worry about inbreeding depression if you don’t intend to share your seeds with others, and are just experimenting within your own garden. 

If however you do plan to share seeds with others and your plants can cross with other plants then you need to think about both isolating them (like I explain below) AND inbreeding depression — these two always go together.  In this case, have a look at a later post I made about this.]

Saving seeds from almost any fruit or vegetable is possible, but some are more difficult than others. Indeed this whole subject can be complicated, and is the point of disagreement between many gardeners. Here are some simple suggestions if you are new to seed saving.

The important thing to remember about saving seeds is you must choose heirloom or open pollinated (OP) plants to save seeds from, or you risk unpredictable results (which isn’t always a bad thing, but probably not the best place to start). Since companies that sell both standard seeds and heirloom/OP seeds are usually prohibited from labelling them as such because of agreements with their suppliers, you must very carefully search for this kind of seed. You generally either have to buy them from a company that specializes in this kind of seed, like some of the ones mentioned on the front page of this blog, or you have to get them from a fellow gardener. Never assume seeds that are not explicitly labelled as open pollinated or heirloom are suitable for seed saving, and even those that are but sold by a company that also sells normal seeds should be considered suspect!

When you save seeds, you should try to save them from more than one of the same kind of plant if possible. This is important for long term viability. If you are just saving seeds for your own garden for the following year, it’s not very important. If the seeds are destined to be shared and grown for many years, the vitality of the seeds will diminish if the breadth of the gene pool is not maintained.

It is also very important to only save seeds from the best plants, so that you preserve the genetic traits from them. You should never save seeds from obviously defective or diseased plants!

Self-pollinating Annuals

Nothing could be easier than these. These are self-pollinating plants that do not require pollen from neighbouring plants and tend not to cross-pollinate with each other. These plants mature and produce seeds in the summer or fall. For these plants all you have to do is save the seeds!

Peas: Just let the plants die off, and gather the seeds from the pods. Since they don’t normally cross-pollinate with each other, you can grow as many varieties of peas next to each other as you want.

Tomatoes: Wild or currant tomatoes can cross pollinate with each other and other neighbouring tomatoes, but normal tomatoes don’t cross pollinate easily so you can generally grow as many of these next to each other as you want. Since there is a small chance of cross pollination, it’s good to avoid letting the plants touch and allow a few meters of space between the plants, if possible. Instructions for saving tomato seeds are here.

Beans: Normal pole or bush type beans do not tend to cross pollinate with each other very much. To be on the safe side, allow a bit of space between different types of beans if possible. Pole varieties are more likely to cross than bush varieties. Soy beans almost never cross. Lima (butter) beans and fava (broad) beans do cross with each other, and are probably not a good place for a beginner to start unless you are just growing one variety. Normal bush/pole beans, Soy Beans and Lima beans are three different species and will not cross with each other. In all cases when saving seeds, just let the plants mature and die off, and gather the seeds.

Peppers: Same as tomatoes, but to save seeds just let the peppers fully mature on the plant then lay the seeds out on a piece of paper to dry for a few days. Be careful of hot peppers! For hot peppers make sure you don’t touch your eyes or nose after handling them, consider wearing rubber gloves, and in any case wash up carefully after you are done.

Pumpkins, Squashes (Courgettes) and related: These are not actually self pollinating, but there is an easy trick to these. There are 4 main species of this kind of plant: Cucurbita Pepo, Cucurbita Moschata, Cucurbita Maxima and Cucurbita Mixta. As long as you don’t grow more than one of each species, they will not cross pollinate with each other. The seeds are usually labelled with the species, and in any case searching on the Internet you can usually determine what it is. To save the seeds, let them fully mature on the plants, then spread the seeds out to dry.

Lettuce: Lettuce does not usually cross pollinate, so you can grow as many different kinds as you want next to each other. Be careful not to save seeds from plants that bolt (or go to seed) prematurely, or you may preserve this genetic trait.

Grains: Grains such as wheat, spelt, barley and so on don’t normally cross pollinate. You can generally grow as many of these next to each other without cross pollinating. Many people don’t understand the potential in growing this kind of plant, and there are many exciting heirloom varieties available!

Biennials

This type of plant is a little more of a challenge to save seeds from, but is still suitable for beginning seed savers. Biennial plants produce seeds in their second growing season, usually in the spring. This type of plant will almost always cross pollinate with similar plants, so you can only grow one variety of each species. In other words one each beet, parsnip, celery root, etc. In fact it is possible to grow as many different varieties within each species, but you must ensure that only one blooms and goes to seed at a time. In areas with a hard winter this sort of plant can be even more of a challenge, because it must be able to survive the winter.

Most people find it easier to transplant all their biennial plants they are saving seeds from to one out of the way place, to make room for the following years garden.

Beet and Swiss Chard: These are both really the same species, only one is grown for the leaves and the other the root. They will cross pollinate with each other. If you grow either of these for eating, just select a few of the best plants, and leave them in the garden to save seeds from.

Parsnips: There are wild parsnips that can cross pollinate with what you grow in your garden, so you must make sure none of these are growing any place nearby. Be sure to give these plants lots of space, because the flower stalk on them is huge. The sap of these plants is very irritating, so avoid contact with the skin.

Celeriac (Celery Root) or Celery: These are the same species, just one grown for the tops and the other the bottom. They will cross pollinate with each other. Celeriac is considerably more winter hardy than celery, but neither will survive a very hard winter.

Parsley: This is very easy to save seeds from. Just insure you only grow one variety of parsley at a time for seed saving purposes.

Turnips: This is a member of the cole family, which includes Cabbages, Brussel Sprouts, Mustard, and so on. They will all cross pollinate with each other, so you can only save seeds from one at a time. Turnips are one of the easiest because the plants are small. Make sure you save from several plants to preserve the gene pool. The seeds will not all mature at the same time, so you will have to collect the seeds slowly over time. The flowers must be insect pollinated, and must receive pollen from a different plant in order to produce seeds.

Plants without Seeds

Some plants do not form seeds and so do not cross pollinate. These are often very easy to grow in your garden, save plant materials from and trade with others.

Garlic: See my earlier post about this.

Perienniel Onions: Grown similar to garlic.

Potatoes

Jerusalem Artichokes: Be careful, these can be very difficult to eradicate from your garden once you start growing them.

Horseradish: See the warning for Jerusalem Artichokes.

There are many other plants in this category.

This is about it for the easiest plants. Of course it’s possible to save seeds from almost any plant that produces them. For more information see Seed to Seed, the excellent book by Suzanne Ashworth.

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Gardening Trends

Last year there was a post on KGI showing trends in home garden food production in the US. There was a stunning 20% decline between 2004 and 2005. This comes amidst all the concerns over GM foods. Even with all the concerns over E Coli, there is no indication yet this trend is reversing. This trend is almost certainly world wide.

The situation is very similar for heirloom vegetable gardening and seed saving. The Seed Savers Exchange reported a 5.5% decrease in the number of members offering seeds to other members. This comes after 10 straight years of decline, 36% in total since 1995. Here too there is no indication this trend is reversing.

Many people find this very hard to believe. There has been so much attention paid to this in recent years, and so many people want to eat more natural and handmade foods. Many people are willing to pay large amounts of money for organic or free-range foods. Many people have discovered the joys of heirloom tomatoes and are growing them in their garden.

The problem is three-fold. First, few people actually make the step from growing heirloom tomatoes, to saving the seeds and sharing them with other people or replanting them. Few people actually make the step from heirloom tomatoes to other heirloom vegetables.

The second problem is that heirloom gardening by definition has it’s origins from before WWII. This was 65 years ago, and the number of people still alive and able to garden from this time is quickly declining. There simply are not enough younger people getting into heirloom gardening. As well as losing the people who actually do the work of heirloom gardening, we are losing all the knowledge and experience of these people.

The third problem is there were a large number of heirloom gardeners in the former Soviet Union, because for them it was a means of survival. With a flood of cheap imported foods, this way of life is quickly disappearing.

It’s been estimated that since WWII 70% of fruit and vegetable varieties have been lost, simply because people stopped growing them and no one saved the seeds.

Increasingly as the European Union expands, and more countries enter in to the so called ‘Free Trade Agreements’, heirloom vegetables are becoming less available. This is because these treaties establish patent rights on seeds and plants, and in many cases prohibit the sale of unpatented varieties. Even when the sale of unpatented varieties is not prohibited, growers often benefit from large subsidies for growing patented varieties and wholesale purchasers often refuse to purchase unpatented varieties. This means, when they are available, heirloom vegetables are often unrealistically priced. Grain is an organization that tracks these treaties and trade agreements, and which countries have implemented seed patents.

In Europe we have seed laws that in most cases prohibit the sale of heirloom seeds and foods. Many people are now working on trying to change these laws, and some progress is being made on this. Nearly all of these efforts are targeted at legalizing heirloom fruits and vegetables for home gardening and informal trading, and there is little prospect these foods will become available on a wide scale commercial basis.

In recent years there have been treaties to promote biodiversity, and insure funding for botanical gardens, the Doomsday Seed Bank and other stores of genetic material. While this is very important, and these can often be positive developments, these seed stores often come with the price of commercial ownership of the seeds and access to the general public is not assured.

It’s more clear than ever before that the only way we will be guaranteed access to heritage foods is if we grow them ourselves, in our own gardens and save and trade the seeds. It’s more important than ever that people take it upon themselves to grow and save seeds from heirloom crops, or they will simply not be there for future generations.

When planning your garden for 2007 why not grow some heirloom vegetables with the intention of saving seeds? You will be surprised at what a concerted effort it takes to do this. Seed saving can be thwarted by crop failures or accidents, and it can take several years to get a system in place for seed saving and storage. If you are new to vegetable gardening, it will take time to learn this as well. Don’t be discouraged or surprised if this all takes a while to get going.

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Seed Buying – Method or Madness?

Carol on May Dreams Gardens made a thought provoking post about seed buying. She asked a series of questions, and suggested the answers could show a lot about the kind of gardener you are. Here are my answers.

What kind of a seed buyer are you?

I don’t buy many seeds, and in any case fewer and fewer each year. I save my own seeds, and trade with others. When I save my own seeds, I find the plants improve over time as they become acclimated to my garden and so become better than any purchased seed. I also find seed exchanges offer much more variety and more interesting seeds than commercial sources.

It can be cheaper and easier to purchase seeds, and in cases where saving seeds is more trouble than it’s worth, I certainly do buy them.

Do you carefully read all of the seed catalogs sent to you and then browse the Internet to compare and contrast all the options, then decide which seeds to buy?

I usually pick up seed catalogs to search for specific items, rather than read them from cover to cover. I am much more likely to use the Internet than seed catalogs, and I have several standard companies I order seeds from. I am always on the lookout for the best prices and lowest shipping and handling costs.

Do you buy seeds from ‘bricks and mortar’ stores and get whatever appeals to you as you are browsing?

Almost never. I grow heirloom seeds, and stores usually don’t have these or anything else I find interesting. Maybe if I wanted a package of herb seeds or something else very common, I would purchase these.

Do you buy vegetable seeds in bulk where they scoop them out of seed bins, weigh them and put them in hand-marked envelopes?

I’ve never seen this before.

Do you buy seeds for just vegetables, or just annual flowers? Do you buy seeds for perennial flowers?

Mostly vegetables, grains and herbs. Occationally annual flowers.

Do you know what stratification and scarification are? Have you done either or both with seeds?

I must admit, I have read some answers from other people, otherwise I might not have recognized these techniques by name. Stratification, cold treatment, yes. Scarification, cutting the seed coat, no. I sometimes also soak seeds in water to soften the coats.

Do you order seeds from more than one seed company to save on shipping or buy from whoever has the seeds you want, even if it means paying nearly the same for shipping as you do for the actual seeds?

Since living in Holland means almost all of my seeds are sent internationally, I almost always end up paying much more for shipping and handling than the price of the seeds. Within some limits, if there is a particular seed I want, I just pay whatever it costs to send it. There are also a few companies I order seeds from every year, and I try to get as many of my seed purchases into these orders as possible to avoid extra shipping costs.

Do you buy more seeds than you could ever sow in one season?

Always!

Do you only buy seeds to direct sow into the garden or do you end up with flats of seedlings in any window of the house with decent light?

Every year I have a room full of seedlings under a growlight ready to transplant in the spring.

Do you save your own seeds from year to year and exchange them with other seed savers?

Always.

Do you even buy seeds?

I think almost everyone buys at least a few.

Do you have a fear of seeds? Some gardeners don’t try seeds, why not?

I am not afraid of seeds!

Do you understand seeds? I once bought seeds at a Walmart in January (Burpee Seeds) and the cashier asked me, “Do these really work? Yes, they do. “Isn’t it too cold to plant them now?” Well, yes, if you are planning to plant them outside. I don’t think this cashier grew up around anyone who gardened.

I understand seeds!

Do you list all your seeds on a spreadsheet, so you can sort the list by when you should sow them so you have a master seed plan of sorts?

Not usually a spreadsheet, usually a text file or notes scribbled on a piece of paper. What else are you supposed to do in February?

Really, I’m terrible when it comes to keeping other gardening records.

Do you keep all the old seeds and seed packets from year to year, scattered about in various drawers, boxes, and baskets?

In at least 20 places around my house.

Do you determine germination percentage for old seed?

If I suspect a problem, or if I am giving saved seed to someone else, I usually do a germination test.