Ojai farmer sounds warning
By Jesse Phelps

Co-owner of The Farmer and The Cook and organic foods expert Steven Sprinkel gave a talk on Saturday, followed by an organic vegetarian luncheon, hosted by The Ojai Retreat as a continuing part of its "Health and Healing" environmental education series. The topic was "How Do Genetically Engineered Foods Affect Our Health?"

A group of around 12 concerned citizens attended the event. Sprinkel wasn't disappointed with the turnout and termed the marketing effort on the part of organizer Ellen Hall "excellent."

The intimate forum gave Sprinkel a perfect chance to answer specific questions posed by the gathered people and the talk evolved based on their input.

Discussion ranged from human health implications of genetically engineered foods to social and economic issues. "Why do we have genetically engineered foods? The people who are the proponents, the inventors, these people who are promoting it make two big claims that are very easily refuted," said Sprinkel. "One is that with genetic engineering, we're going to be able to feed a larger population. There's no evidence now that we're not able to feed the current population, nor would we fail to feed the current population even if it should double."

But what about the people starving in, for instance, the famine- or civil-strife-plagued regions of Africa? "Those are distribution issues," said Sprinkel. "Why does genetic engineering answer a need that hasn't been met already? If people were in power, or if any company promoting this had an urgent need to feed people, they can do it right now. There's something like 8,000,000,000 glasses of milk, in dried form, in storage, that's owned by the United States Department of Agriculture right now. They want to feed them, they can."

The second inaccurate claim, Sprinkel said, is that genetic engineering will lead to a decrease in the use of chemical pesticides and herbicides. In fact, he said, the opposite is true. "That's the biggest lie of all," he says.

The implications of genetic engineering, said Sprinkel, potentially affect both personal health and the agricultural field as a whole. In one notable case, a natural bacterium called Bacillus thuringiensis, or simply Bt, a natural, non-pathogenic bacterium found naturally in the soil, has been spliced into the genes of certain plants.

Bt, which has become a highly effective weapon for the organic farmer, now may become outmoded as the insects it fights begin to grow immunity to it, thanks to genetic engineering, said Sprinkel.
"There are a lot of unresolved questions, questions that haven't even been asked, questions we don't know who to ask, or what to ask, about genetic engineering," he said.

Sprinkel has been active for years in attempting to raise awareness about genetic engineering in addition to his double duties as organic farmer and shop owner.

"I've been involved with the genetics engineering campaign and education program nationally since 1996," Sprinkel said. "I worked with the national organic program for the USDA on that, national organic farmers organizations on that, and groups in Iowa and Texas and in California."

Sprinkel publishes a column in "Acres USA," a 35-year-old, 15,000-subscriber alternative agriculture and environmental journal targeted primarily toward independent and family farmers. It and other informational sources on genetic engineering, organic farming, and healthy eating are available at his shop, The Farmer and The Cook, located on El Roblar in Meiners Oaks.

Meanwhile, said Sprinkel, the action for concerned people to take is clear: support organic growers with your pocketbook and stay aware of what's happening.

"We need to keep up and be vigilant with the work on limiting and eventually doing away with genetic engineering as we know it now," said Sprinkel. "The manipulation of the genes and the crossing of the species and this other funny stuff we've been doing."

© 2003 The Ojai Valley News

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