How soon will you be eating genetically modified salmon? If the biotech firm AquaBounty has its way, it could be sooner than you think: according to a recent news story, the company is now awaiting FDA approval of their transgenic salmon for human consumption. And when the genetically modified salmon is approved, unless consumers insist, it's very likely the fish will not even be labeled as genetically modified.
How much of our food supply is already genetically engineered and how does this affect human health and economics? Filmmakers Bertram Verhaag and Gabriele Krober went on a global journey to find out.
"The technology was introduced into society without democratic debate or voting," says Verhaag, the film's director. "In desperation, politicians are trying to catch up with the reality already created by industry by framing it into laws."
Verhaag interviewed farmers, bio-tech executives, and experts in the environmental arena. The result is the film, "Life Running Out Of Control," which exposes tactics used by large bio-tech firms, including AquaBounty, to control and manipulate plant, animal, and human genes.
According to Verhaag, "A gigantic human experiment is being conducted. For nine years, 200 million Americans have been eating genetically modified foods, not because they voted to do so but because they were never told anything about this. They are not informed and there is no labeling of genetically modified elements in food."
Although it may seem, on an individual level, to be an impossible struggle against gigantic biotech corporations, collectively "Consumers are a Goliath that can force industry via the market to a change of conduct," Verhaag insists. "It remains to be hoped that the consumer will vehemently demand this labeling."
"Life Running Out of Control," which has won numerous awards at international film festivals, demonstrates the interconnectedness of our global food suppliers, whether they be farmers or lab technicians trained to genetically alter lab animals and acquire patents on human genes. As corporations, such as Monsanto and AquaBounty, seek more control over human food consumption to generate larger profits, it raises the question, "How far is too far?"
In some cases, the results have already been disastrous: In India, many failed crops of Monsanto's genetically modified cotton have forced thousands of farmers into bankruptcy and drove many to suicide; in Canada, genetically modified canola seeds that blew onto neighboring organic farms made organic certification of those farmers' crops impossible.
Still, the director does not consider "Life Running Out of Control" a pessimistic film. "We encounter many people all over the world who are defying industry, revealing its dangers but also offering alternatives. Through labeling, the consumer has the possibility to decide for or against gene technology in the supermarket. The film intends to lend help to the consumer in making conscious decisions."
The screening is scheduled for August 6, 2010 at the Yoga Desa Dance Studio, 120 N. Topanga Cyn. Blvd. A snack/wine/cheese/veggie potluck table begins at 7:45 p.m. and "Life Running Out Of Control" begins at 8 p.m. A Q&A session will immediately follow the screening. A $10 donation is requested, but no one will be turned away for lack of funds.
