19/10/2016: GM crops - the urgent need to map our meals

By Ioannis Zabetakis

We are what we eat.
 

Ionnis Zabetakis

Also, our food (either of animal or sea origin) is what it eats. Therefore, it is of vital importance to keep improving the nutritional value of animal and fish feeds.

With this in mind, I really enjoyed the interview of Prof Brett Glencross of the University of Stirling as it appeared in “International Aquafeed” in the May/June 2016 issue.

His views on the genetically modified Atlantic salmon that has been approved in US are of particular interest. I do agree with Prof Glencross that “this is a good piece of science” but I have to disagree though with his statement that “humans have been consuming genetically modified crops for over two decades now”. This phrase may be true for other parts of the world but not for Europe.

In EU, the import of GM food and the use of GM feeds is well monitored and there is still a pan-European ban on GM feeds. Therefore, let’s rest assured that in the EU, we have not been consuming GM crops. However, regardless of the place we live on this planet, let’s have a look at how we can map our meals, so we know if we actually consume GM genes or not.

 Your Meal - EYD2015, is a Europe Aid funded project, and as the name suggests, its primary goal is to enable consumers to trace the origins of their food through the usage of a mobile phone application, by scanning the barcode of a product; an action which will in turn bring consumers vitally closer to the production process, and an understanding of the conditions and standards producers work.

It’s a new mobile phone app, with tremendous potential for the consumers but also for teachers and parents on how to communicate to our students and children the concept of food chain and how trace-ability can increase our awareness about our diet. 

Through this project, the vast extent of global interdependencies, on a personal, national and international level (i.e. consumer – producer) are highlighted. The project has been crafted to raise awareness about sustainability, equity, global justice and global interdependencies, in young people, youth workers/trainers, community educators, and the general public.

Read the full article HERE.

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