Cargill under fire for work with Non-GMO Project
Farmers question group’s motives, call company’s support ‘a slap in the face’
Cargill Inc.’s efforts to supply food companies with non-genetically modified ingredients have come under attack from the other side of its business: farmers.
In common with several other large agribusinesses, Cargill is adapting to a shift in consumer taste toward more products labelled non-GMO. And just like those companies, it too has agreed to allow the Non-GMO Project, a U.S. non-profit group, to verify some of its supplies to ensure they’re free of ingredients such as modified soy and corn.
But in recent days, Cargill, the country’s largest private company, has found itself on the defensive against criticism on social media over the relationship. The source of the controversy is the Non-GMO Project’s position that there’s no scientific consensus on the safety of GMOs. That’s contradicted by reports from National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine and the American Medical Association, who say GMO crops pose no more risk to human health than any other crops.
Some farmers are unhappy that Cargill is endorsing a group so clearly opposed to GMO crops, which account for the vast majority of soybeans, corn and canola grown in North America.
“It’s a slap in the face,” said Chris Allam, a farmer who grows 6,000 acres of canola near Fort Saskatchewan. “I have a problem with Cargill dealing with someone who is staunchly against it.”
Cargill announced its partnership with the Non-GMO Project in October, and said earlier this month it got verification for several additional ingredients, including Stevia sweeteners and soybean oil. The company is far from alone in working with the Bellingham, Wash.-based group. Bunge Ltd. has had the group verify some milled corn ingredients and oils. In Canada, the group verifies canola oils produced by Viterra Inc., Glencore Plc’s agricultural unit.
Still, it’s Cargill’s arrangement that has stirred up a lively debate. Robb Fraley, chief technology officer at Monsanto, the world’s largest supplier of GMO seeds, weighed in last week on Twitter, saying he understands Cargill’s intent to support farmers and consumer choice, but also asking why the company is working with an “anti-science” group.
“I can understand why this feels threatening,” said Megan Westgate, executive director of the Non-GMO Project. “There’s a big paradigm shift happening. The largest food companies in the world are looking for non-GMO ingredients and that’s really changing the supply chain.”
Consumer demand for nonGMO food has risen exponentially and the Non-GMO Project’s mission is to make sure people have choices and options, she said. The group offers the only established, third-party non-GMO certification in North America and currently has 43,623 products verified to its standards.
“Some of the farmers’ concerns are well-founded, in that the NonGMO Project is not an unbiased, non-aligned, independent lab,” said Peter Golbitz, founder of Estero, Fla.-based Agromeris, a consulting firm for agriculture products and ingredients. “Their true intent is to discredit GMO technology and to drive fear into consumers and the supply chain.”
Cargill says modified crops and non-GMO ingredients can coexist, and that GMO technology is safe and plays a critical role in feeding a growing population. The firm doesn’t share the non-GMO project’s position on GMOs, said Randy Giroux, vice-president of food safety, quality and regulatory.
“There’s no bigger supporter of farmers and GMO technology than Cargill,” Giroux said in a statement. “Like many other companies, Cargill’s affiliation with the Non-GMO Project is strictly limited to its rigorous verification process. Since there is no Federal standard for non-GMO products in the U.S., companies like ours use private standards that the market recognizes.”
While there’s no issue with providing the consumer with more information from a third party, growers are upset Cargill is working with a “politically charged” activist group with an anti-GMO view that’s not based on logic or science, said Allam, the Alberta farmer. GMO crops help boost yields and allow growers to better control grasses and other weeds with less chemicals and tillage, he said.
“I’m quite disappointed in Cargill’s position,” said D’Arcy Hilgartner, a farmer who grows canola on his family farm near Camrose.
“It’s like using Cargill money to fight against the good work growers are doing.”