Over and over polls show Canadians are opposed to genetically modified organisms in their food. People oppose genetic engineering because no long term testing has been done on humans who consume GE foods, because it is hazardous to the preservation of biodiversity in general and contaminates ancient varieties of food crops in particular, and because the system which it fosters allows for corporate control of agriculture – seeds can be patented thus removing farmers’ inherent rights to save their own crops’ seed.

Regardless of this fact, the Canadian government has supported the biotechnology industry for over twenty years by allowing them to test grow their seed in Canada and by giving the public the message that GE foods are safe to eat. Furthermore, the government has never agreed to mandatory labeling of GE products, thus giving consumers no visible choice in what they eat.

Well, biotech firms beware! A grassroots campaign to declare municipalities and regional districts GE free is growing across British Columbia.

Although still in its infancy, the movement is receiving widespread support from farmers, environmentalists, food democracy advocates, organic businesses, Greenpeace and the Council of Canadians. Inspired by the story of Saskatchewan farmer Percy Schmeiser who was successfully sued by the large biotech firm Monsanto for illegally growing their patented seed on his land when in fact it had freely blown into his ditch and self-propagated, movement supporters are working municipality by municipality to keep this same story from happening to BC farmers.

The idea of GE free crop zones is to keep regions free of any sort of propagation or cultivation of genetically engineered organisms by individuals, farms or agricultural corporations.

Here in the West Kootenays, a dedicated group of individuals including Aimee Watson, Jon Steinman, Sandi McCreight, Kim Charlesworth and Andy Morel have begun to organize a GE Free Kootenays Campaign with the ultimate goal of having Regional Districts and municipalities pass resolutions defining their areas as GE Free. These resolutions would in essence be a red flag to anyone interested in growing GE seeds in the designated area; it clearly demonstrates they are unwelcome.

On July 10th, they held their first public event to launch the Campaign and the turn out was excellent. Close to 250 people attended the event at the Brilliant Cultural Centre at which Percy Schmeiser shared his personal struggle.

The first part of the process will be to define the Campaign area. This will be largely dependent on the interest of individuals in the sub areas of the West Kootenays: Grand Forks, Kaslo, New Denver, Creston, etc… These different areas have different agricultural make-ups and industries thus the strategies to be used will vary by area.

Currently, Creston is the only area in which it is believed that GE crops are being grown and so in this area it will be important to present these farmers with viable market alternatives. One model that can be looked to is Community Supported Agriculture in which the consumers pay for a share of a farmer’s produce or grain at the beginning of the growing season to help the farmers when they most need the funding and to take some risk with the farmer, and then the consumers receive their share of the crop when it is ripe. This year, a group of three farms in the Creston area are working together in this way to produce diverse organic grains for people in the region and demand has been exceptional: 200 shares were sold at the beginning of the season and more people put their names on an alternate list.

People who are interested in helping the Campaign in some way can stay up to date by checking the Kootenay Food Strategy’s website: www.kootenayfood.ca and by attending the next meeting tentatively scheduled for August 20th. Further times and details of the meeting will be available on the website and announced in local newspapers.