The biggest seed company in the world, Bayer, claims it has an innovative solution to increase the daily vegetable intake of people in North America.
The company says its mission is “Health for All, Hunger for None,” but Bayer is not proposing to make fresh whole foods cheaper by cutting the prices it charges farmers for seeds and pesticides or funding school food programs. Instead, Bayer wants to sell more genetically modified (GM, or genetically engineered) foods.
Bayer has a plan to develop “nutritionally-enhanced” fruits and vegetables using new genetic engineering techniques known as gene editing. Bayer’s first genetically modified organism (GMO) in this program is mustard greens that have been gene-edited to taste less “mustardy.”
These GM mustard greens (Brassica juncea) are being promoted as a “new category” of leafy greens that Bayer says consumers will find more palatable, leading to increased consumption of greens that are more nutritious than lettuce. The company says it is “deeply attuned to what consumers are seeking.”
While Bayer has yet to actually enhance nutrition with genetic engineering, it nonetheless says it is “proud to address a widespread nutrition problem and to support a healthy diet through cutting-edge technology.”
GM foods from gene-edited plants can now enter our food system without any government safety assessments
The cutting-edge technology Bayer is referring to is CRISPR, one of a range of new gene editing techniques. These techniques alter the genetics of a plant or animal by inserting, deleting, or otherwise changing a DNA sequence at a specific, targeted site in the organism’s own genome (the entire set of genetic material in an organism, including DNA). While a few GM fruits and vegetables already exist, gene editing techniques allow for a broader range of traits and types of fruits and veggies to be genetically engineered.
This year, Bayer wants to start selling its gene-edited GM mustard greens in Canada and the US, as packaged, ready-to-eat salad. These greens will be the first gene-edited vegetable in North America, and only the second genetically modified vegetable grown in Canada, after GM sweetcorn. (There are currently eight GM foods on the market in Canada and most of them appear as ingredients in processed foods. See the chart on this page).
Backyard GMOs
Bayer is so proud of its GMO salad that it does not just want people to eat it – it also wants people to grow it in their backyards. For the first time, Bayer says it will target sales of GM seeds to home gardeners and small farmers.
GMO salad greens and backyard GM seeds could be shrugged off as inconsequential, but for small-scale farmers, organic seed producers, and seed savers, it is a direct threat to livelihoods, traditions, cultural lineages, and biodiversity. If these seeds are sold, there is a high likelihood they will contaminate seed stocks and end up, unwanted, in gardens across Canada. This can happen through cross-pollination, or the almost inevitable mixing and escape of the tiny Brassica juncea seed from gardens and fields.
Bayer’s salad greens will not be labelled as GM
Mustard varieties within the Brassica juncea species can cross with each other and can be self-pollinated or cross-pollinated by wind and insects. One study has shown that outcrossing in Brassica juncea populations occurred at up to 35m (114 feet). However, this distance is likely greater, given their similarity to Brassica napus species, which have been found to outcross to much larger distances (up to 800m in one study). Seeds that escape can also persist in the soil. There will be no way to know if this GM contamination has occurred, and no way to reverse it.
Why GMO salad?
After buying Monsanto in 2018, Bayer became the world’s largest seed company, and the second largest agrochemical company. In 2023, it had $49.7 billion (USD) in sales. Until now, Bayer has focussed on the lucrative export commodity crops of corn, canola, and soy. So why does Bayer care about salad?
Salad greens are not a big money-maker compared to GM soy, but releasing GM salad greens is a way for Bayer to break open the market for other gene-edited fruits and vegetables. This strategy is possible because the Canadian government recently removed regulation for gene-edited plants and foods, provided they contain no DNA from other species.
Bayer’s gene-edited greens do not need to go through any government approval process before reaching the market. These and many other GM foods from gene-edited plants can now enter our food system without any government safety assessments or independent science. There is no government oversight. Instead, corporations are trusted to assess the safety of their own GM food products.
Bayer’s salad greens will not be labelled as GM and, because of the lack of pre-market regulation, they can be released without any notification to the government and public. Bayer’s salad agenda will mean unknown, unregulated GM fruits and vegetables in grocery stores, and unidentified, unregulated GM seeds marketed to small gardeners.
The Canadian Biotechnology Action Network (CBAN) has launched a “No GMO Salad” campaign to help seed savers, farmers, and consumers fight back against Bayer’s GM salad greens agenda. CBAN is asking consumers to help get grocery stores to commit to non-GMO produce sections. Many stores already have. Many seed companies have also already pledged to sell only non-GM seed.
Just like the demise of the GM salmon, Canadians can toss out Bayer’s GMO salad and protect our fruit and vegetables. To find out which companies are committed to non-GM, and how to take action, visit cban.ca/gmosalad.
Fionna Tough is a campaigner at the Canadian Biotechnology Action Network (CBAN), a project on the shared platform of the MakeWay Charitable Society. www.cban.ca
