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GOURMET NEWS JULY 2015 www.gourmetnews.com GENERAL NEWS 1 1 Genetically Engineered Continued from PAGE 1 There are only eight crops for which genetically engi- neered varieties are currently grown commercially: corn, soybeans, cotton, sugar beets, canola, alfalfa, papaya and squash, according to Jaffe. These genetically engineered crops are currently grown in 28 countries around the world by more than 18 million farmers. Japan and China each have more than 7 million farmers growing genetically en- gineered crops, he said. More than 90 percent of the corn, cotton, sugar beets and soybeans currently grown in the United States has been genetically engineered. Although wheat is widely rumored to have been geneti- cally modified, and that's frequently proffered as an expla- nation for growing rates of celiac disease and gluten intolerance, that's a myth. While wheat has been genetically engineered and field tested, the modified seed was never been sold to farmers for commercial crops, simply because farmers weren't interested in growing it, so it was aban- doned in 2004. There is currently no genetically modified wheat approved for release anywhere in the world. "There is no commercial variety of genetically engineered wheat," Jaffe said. "There is no genetically engineered wheat on the market.... Gluten comes from wheat, so the information out there that gluten-intolerance is related to genetic engi- neering is not true." Genetic engineering works by moving beneficial traits from one organism to another in a very precise way. For in- stance, Bacillus thuringiensis, commonly known as Bt, is a naturally occurring bacterium that lives in soil and that's routinely used by organic farmers as a natural insecticide. It works by infecting and killing particular insects, such as European corn borers, Colorado potato beetles and cotton bollworms. Each strain of the bacterium acts on specific insects but is harmless to other insects and to humans, other mammals, birds and fish. Scientists have figured out how to extract from the bac- terium's DNA the gene that produces the protein that kills insects infected by Bt and insert that gene into plants. When those plants make seeds, the seeds carry the Bt gene, inheriting that in the same way they inherit other traits of their parent plants. Both corn and cotton have now been engineered to produce the Bt protein, which means that farmers who grow that seed don't have to spray their fields with Bt to kill the targeted insects because the plants are able to produce the insect killing protein themselves. "It's almost like vaccinating the crop," Jaffe said. When people eat those genetically engineered plants, the plants' altered DNA doesn't become part of the human bodies that ate it, just as humans who eat a salad don't in- corporate that DNA into their genes and turn into let- tuces. "There is no harm from foods made from those crops. There's international consensus that there is no harm," Jaffe said. "We don't know about future crops be- cause we have to look at that on a case by case basis, but for now, there is no harm." GN New Fixtures Line Uses Reclaimed Wood Viridian Reclaimed Wood has introduced a line of prefab- ricated, customizable fixtures for grocery and specialty re- tailers, according to Viridian Co-owner Joe Mitchoff. The product range includes retail display case headers, crates and produce bins. "We've had tremendous success in custom fabricating fixtures for the grocery retail segment," Mitchoff said. "The demand has grown to the point that we've begun making these fixtures at production levels." Viridian's display case headers have many uses, including wall cladding, cash wraps, fixtures, and signage. They are available in Good Neighbor Weath- ered Redwood (made from reclaimed fence boards), Granary Plank (derived from beams from granaries) and Route 66 Truck Deck (made from reclaimed truck decking). The display crates and bins are also fabricated using Viridian's Siberian Spruce paneling, orig- inally sourced from re- claimed Russ- ian crating. Viridian reclaimed wood paneling products can con- tribute points toward the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Credits: MRc3: (Materials Reuse), MRc4 (Recycled Content), MRc5 (Regional Materials) and MRc7 (Certified Wood). Viridian Reclaimed Wood manufactures table/countertops, paneling, flooring, retail fixtures and beams. The company is headquartered in Port- land, Oregon, and was founded with the purpose of upcycling dockside discards (shipping crates, pallets, and other lumber) into useful reclaimed in- terior and exterior architectural products. Viridian sells direct through its website and ships through- out North America and beyond. For more information visit www.viridianwood.com or call 877.909.WOOD. GN American Project Improving Food Security in South Sudan Abt Associates has won a contract with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to con- tinue its work toward improving food security conditions in South Sudan through the development of agricultural markets and expansion of enhanced agricultural farming practices. The $12 million contract is a follow-on to the Abt-led USAID-funded Food, Agribusiness and Rural Markets (FARM) Project that begun in 2010 and ended in 2015. FARM II will build on the goals of FARM to increase agri- cultural production, build rural markets, and improve pub- lic and private capacity in South Sudan. The project works across high-potential agricultural land known locally as the Greenbelt, located in the Eastern, Central and Western Equatorias. The FARM II Project will focus on improved agricultural markets, agricultural pro- ductivity, and capacity building. It will target small-to- medium agribusinesses and smallholder farmers, which encompass the vast majority of agricultural actors in the Greenbelt. "We look forward to continuing our work to help the people of South Sudan improve their food security and in- crease their resilience to mitigate against shocks, such as those created by conflict and climate, which affect the agri- culture system in South Sudan," said Stephen Pelliccia, Di- vision Vice President for International Economic Growth. Partners on the project include Texas A&M University's Borlaug Institute for International Agriculture, ACDI/VOCA, Action Africa Help-International, RSM Consulting, Making Cents International and BBC Media Action. GN

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