GMO Proposal & School Lunch Program

GMO Proposal & School Lunch Program plus Food Forethought. I'm Greg Martin with today's Northwest Report.

On Friday the federal government proposed eliminating restrictions on the use of corn and soybean seeds that are genetically engineered to resist a common weed killer, a move welcomed by many farmers but feared by scientists and environmentalists who worry it will encourage growers to use more chemicals. Many farmers have been eager for a new generation of herbicide-resistant seeds because of the prevalence of weeds that have become immune to Monsanto's Roundup. The new genetically altered "Enlist" corn and soybeans developed by Dow AgroSciences would allow farmers to use the weed killer 2,4-D throughout the plants' lives.

School lunch programs are getting some better flexibility when it comes to serving whole grains and lean proteins. USDA Under Secretary Kevin Concannon discusses new regulations in place for the federal school breakfast and lunch programs.

CONCANNON: Basically those regulations now permanently now put into place the new meal patterns that have now been in place in schools across the United States for the past year and a half. This rule says to school meal programs across the country you may serve as many of these whole grains or as much of the protein as you so wish particularly to middle school and high school students as long as the overall meal that you serve does not exceed the calorie requirements for that age group.

Now with today's Food Forethought, here's Lacy Gray.

In an interesting marketing move General Mills has said that the original-flavored Cheerios will soon include a label on boxes stating "Not Made With Genetically Modified Ingredients", but in the same breath issued a warning that traces of GMO product could still be found in the new batches, due to contamination during processing and manufacturing. Anti-GMO activists are touting this as a "victory" for the non-GMO movement. When given closer scrutiny though, it's not really that much of a victory when considering that the main ingredient in Cheerios is oats, a grain that has never been genetically modified. General Mills said it will be switching to corn starch from non-GMO corn and sugar from non-GMO pure cane sugar, but that these changes will only apply to the original Cheerios. Here again, not that big a deal when considering there are only trace amounts of these ingredients in original Cheerios in the first place. A General Mills representative went on to say that to remove GMO ingredients from their other cereal varieties like Apple Cinnamon Cheerios or Honey Nut Cheerios would be "difficult, if not impossible".

Thanks Lacy. That's today's Northwest Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.