Will We Swallow GE Potatoes

By Pam Smith
DTN Progressive Farmer Crops Technology Editor

DECATUR, Ill. (DTN) -- I've always said the fastest way to consumer acceptance of genetically engineered food could come if a nasty disease or insect hit the coffee industry. Denied coffee, the most irritated consumer might stop long enough to listen to facts. Or, perhaps faced with higher prices and diminished supply, the world might just accept and swallow the GE coffee. I know I'm that addicted.

Last week I made a quick stop on the way home from a seed corn meeting to see a farmer friend. We kicked a few ice clods before he popped a question I wasn't expecting: "Should I be planting genetically altered crops? Are they safe?"

I was surprised because I know this farmer to be an early adopter of herbicide traits and Bt insect technologies. He's thoughtful and efficient. It turns out several of his children, who have left the farm for lives beyond farming, are questioning his methods and doing it with enough verbal ammo that he's begun to squirm.

I'm betting you've faced similar questions and I'll urge you to do what I suggested to my friend -- it's time to learn enough about the science to have some talking points. There's a whole new round of biotech foods on the horizon. We should at least make the effort to have enough facts to convince our own children they are safe.

It has been nearly two decades since GE seeds started going in the ground and it is true the controversy that still stirs has done little to slow adoption. In 2014, a record 448.5 million acres of biotech crops were grown globally, according to a report released in January by the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications (ISAAA). A total of 28 countries grew biotech crops during the year. The 20 developing and eight industrial countries where biotech crops are produced represent more than 60% of the world's population.

"The accumulated hectarage of biotech crops grown in 1996 to 2014 equals, roughly, 80% more than the total land mass of China," said Clive James, ISAAA founder and report author in a news release. "Global hectarage has increased more than 100-fold since the first plantings of biotech crops."

Since 1996, more than 10 food and fiber biotech crops have been approved and commercialized around the world.

The U.S. continues to lead production of biotech crops at 180.6 million acres -- a growth rate of 4% over 2013, according to the ISAAA report. In the U.S., GE crops to date have mostly meant major commodities such as corn, soybean and cotton with traits that address issues that face farmers. GE consumer benefits in soybean oils are becoming more available, but have been largely introduced to the industrial use market or used in restaurant settings.

It is a new potato that could give us a better taste of how U.S. consumers will tolerate GE traits that have more direct consumer benefit. In November 2014, USDA approved J.R. Simplot's first generation of Innate potatoes. The varieties resist bruising, have lower sugar content and won't brown when cut. Simplot has indicated intentions to license three varieties to select partners in test markets in 2015.

Innate potatoes also contain low levels of acrylamide, a chemical that has been linked with cancer risk in high temperature cooking of potato chips and French fries. A second generation of Innate awaits approval and these varieties also include several additional resistances to disease, improved water-use efficiency and better nitrogen utilization on top of the appealing feature of 40% less bruising compared to conventional potatoes.

According to Simplot's website, scientists used some new genetic tactics to develop these spuds. Put simply, they isolated genetic elements from a potato plant genome, rearranged the genes and introduced them back without incorporating any foreign genes. In the case of bruising, scientists silenced or dimmed down some genes. Learn more here: http://www.simplotplantsciences.com/…

Will consumers swallow the new-fangled potato? I don't know. One of the first GE efforts (first sold in 1994), Calgene's slow ripening Flavr Savr tomato, failed more because of poor variety selection and taste issues, than fear of the technology. Fundamental shifts in consumer acceptance have happened since that time.

Thinking back to those early days, I recall that we assumed consumers would buy into GE because they trusted us -- agriculture. We became good at explaining how and why we use traits and technology, but when pushed, often dismissed consumer objections with defensive attitudes such as: "If I didn't believe GE food was safe, I wouldn't feed it to my children or grandchildren."

Sorry ... statements like that do little to further trust or acceptance. What consumers -- and sometimes our own children -- need is reassurance their food supply is safe.

ISAAA documents show at least 70 potential products wait in the wings -- some are new crops and others contain multiple modes of action to fight resistance to insects and diseases and tolerances to herbicides. The fact that agriculture now "needs" new products to tackle resistance problems doesn't do much to show consumers we value these technologies either.

Still, farmers are their own best advocates. You don't have to know how to sequence the genome. A little homework to arm yourself with a few simple, but relevant facts will show you've thought about the technology in a broader way.

Most of consumers are surprised (and relieved) to learn that companies aren't randomly inserting odd genes into foods or transforming plants for fun. Biotech tactics are nearly always the last deployed in efforts to solve a problem because of the time and expense involved.

ISAAA has a list of online posts called Pockets of Knowledge that have helped me become more comfortable with the science. Grab a cup of coffee while you still can -- because coffee rust is a real threat -- and read up on what's new in the trait technologies you are using here: http://www.isaaa.org/…

Let me know if you develop any good talking points. I'll share them with other farmers.

Pam Smith can be reached at pam.smith@dtn.com

(ES/SK)

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