AUGUSTA – Genetically engineered crops will either save us or be the end of us, depending on whom you believe.

Supporters and opponents testified Friday before the Legislature’s Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry Committee’s hearing on several bills dealing with the practice.

The proposals, each sponsored by Rep. Benjamin Pratt, D-Eddington, included:

• Requiring annual reporting of the total acreage of genetically engineered crops grown in Maine;

• Banning the open-air production of genetically engineered pharmaceutical crops;

• Establishing liability in the case of cross-pollination of a genetically engineered crop with another crop.

Proponents of the bills said genetically engineered crops – those that have been given specific traits through scientific intervention – have not been adequately tested for their effects on humans and the environment, and the state should move cautiously when it comes to allowing their production.

“It’s something that worries me in terms of the food supply and to me, there’s no more important homeland security concern than our food supply,” Pratt said.

In his testimony on behalf of his bill to ban the open-air production of genetically engineered pharmaceutical crops in Maine, he used the example of safflower plants, which have been altered so they produce insulin, a drug used to help diabetes patients.

“That’s a good thing, which I support as long as it’s done in a greenhouse and in a controlled, contained environment,” Pratt said. To his knowledge, no one in Maine is farming such crops in an open-air field.

Others said they supported the ban on such crops because human error and the process by which crops naturally reproduce ensure cross-pollination would occur.

“It’s too great a risk to our food supply,” said Bob St. Peter of Sedgwick, executive director of Food for Maine’s Future.

Logan Perkins of the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association said the economic ramifications of an accidental cross-pollination of a pharmaceutical crop would also hurt Maine farmers, in addition to health concerns.

“Maine is uniquely positioned to see a great resurgence of our agricultural industries,” she said. “All of this could be jeopardized by a single contamination event. Let us act prudently now to protect the Maine brand and the value of its appeal in the marketplace, so that Maine farmers can thrive for generations to come.”

The committee will schedule work sessions on the bills in the coming weeks.

Copy the Story Link