The truth about soya

In recent years, particularly in Paraguay, the forest has been devastated by a small but hugely powerful enemy that helps to provide the milk in your mug of tea and the meat on our plates: the genetically modified soya bean.

The soya bean, a small, typically yellow or green bean native to east Asia, has been hailed as a modern wonder crop. When crushed it is separated into protein-rich soybean meal, which fills cattle and pig troughs in Britain, and oil, which is used for fuel. But the bean’s rapacious spread in South America is a scourge of the rainforests.

Vast swathes of the Atlantic Forest, along with its teeming life, have been destroyed by the soya bean’s inexorable advance, which was boosted in 2004 with the arrival of Monsanto genetically modified (GM) soya beans in Brazil and Paraguay. These beans tilt the odds against the rest of nature, as legislation allows plantation owners to spray vast areas of land with a powerful Monsanto herbicide — sold as RoundUp in Britain — that wipes out hundreds of plants but leaves the GM soya beans standing.

In Paraguay, some of the country’s areas of richest biodiversity, including the dwindling patches of Atlantic Forest, have been razed and then laced with herbicide. A United States Department of Agriculture report from June 2008 describes the growth of soya bean cultivation in Paraguay as “explosive”. It shows a satellite image of soya bean fields “continuing to be carved out of the remaining forest area in Paraguay”.

Pete Riley of the GM Freeze campaign says: “The engine that drives the expansion of this crop is GM. Valuable habitats are being ripped up at a rate of knots.”

A 2008 Friends of the Earth report, called What’s Feeding Our Food, estimates a further 1.5m hectares of Atlantic Forest could be lost to soya expansion by 2020. Vast tracts of Amazon rainforest and the Cerrado savannah are also being cleared for GM soya production.

Animals and people are being forced off the land by the spread of soya and the cocktail of chemicals that comes with it Most British shoppers think their food is largely GM-free. Think again. We are, in fact, the people driving the demand that is causing such havoc in South America. The animals that provide our meat, eggs and milk are fed on protein-rich feed to boost their productivity. Much of it comes from South America and much of it is GM soya.

In response to consumer demand, most chicken meat and eggs in British supermarkets now come from broilers and laying hens fed on non-GM feed. However, few customers will be aware that the British dairy herds that produce our milk and cheese, and the pigs for our pork and bacon, are all likely to have been fed on GM soya imported from Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay.

In the UK alone, livestock farmers imported more than 3m tons of soya feed from South America in 2007/08, much of it GM. America is also a big exporter of GM soya. Imported meat is also likely to have been reared on a diet supplemented with GM soya.

Nick Rau, a campaigner for Friends of the Earth (FoE) who has been on a fact-finding mission to Paraguay, says: “On arriving in Paraguay, nothing can prepare you for the vast open expanses that used to be forest. People in Britain would be shocked by the scale of the devastation here that’s feeding our livestock at home. Locals tell me that, only a few years ago, they would often see jaguars in the forest, but now wildlife is scarce. Both animals and people are being forced off the land by the spread of soya and the cocktail of chemicals that comes with it."

One of the reasons that this environmental disaster has been unfolding largely unchecked is the scarcity of information available to consumers. Understandably, supermarkets and restaurants are reluctant to shout about the fact that, while their food may be largely GM-free, the feed given to the animals from which that food is derived most certainly is not.

When customers concerned about the loss of the rainforests approached the supermarkets about the issue on behalf of FoE, the stores were reluctant to acknowledge they were, in fact, selling a huge range of products from animals reared on GM soya.

So, what is the solution? One option is to choose organic meat, milk and cheese, which prohibits the use of GM animal feed. Improved labelling would help to ensure customers are better informed. Monsanto and the main soya producers have joined a round table to certify sustainably produced GM soya. Anti-GM campaigners, however, dismiss this as “greenwash” that will not provide adequate protection to the Atlantic Forest and other valuable habitats. They argue GM crops themselves are the problem, encouraging heavy use of herbicides on vast plantations.

It is a mammoth, if not impossible, task even to slow down the GM-soya juggernaut. For example, GM producers are lobbying hard for more of their crops to be grown in this country, with crop trials of GM potatoes in Norfolk given the go-ahead earlier this month. Environmental campaigners say a more radical solution is required. They say South America should no longer be used as the cattle trough of the global food market. Instead, they would like to see smaller and more environmentally friendly farms providing the food we eat.

“This devastation is unnecessary. We don’t need to produce food like this to feed a growing population a healthy and nutritious diet,” says Rau. “And we don’t need to give up meat, either — we just need to eat less of it and to change the way it’s farmed."

Genetically modified crops for commercial production were introduced in 1996 (Dan Burn-Forti)

How you're eating it

Beef
British cattle are routinely fed on GM feed, but there is no requirement to put this on food labels. Fresh beef imports and meat for processed foods are also fed GM soya to add bulk in the weeks before slaughter. Instead, ask for “grass-finished” beef such as Aberdeen Angus, which is unlikely to be fed soya.

Pork
Pigs are fed a high-protein diet that typically includes wheat, barley and GM soya.

Dairy cattle
Most British milk comes from cows fed a high-protein diet likely to contain GM soya, which is a cheap source of protein.

Chicken
In response to consumer demand, most poultry in the UK intended for egg and meat production use GM-free feed. However, the industry is lobbying the supermarkets to permit the use of GM feed since it is allowed for other livestock.

Organic
Organic livestock are not permitted to be fed any GM products. Any non-GM soya used must have been produced sustainably.

The supermarkets
Marks & Spencer is the only supermarket not to allow GM feed for any of its fresh meat. Its standard milk also comes from cows fed on a non-GM diet. Waitrose, Sainsbury’s and Co-op offer some ranges of meat that are reared on GM-free animal feed. Almost all fresh chicken and eggs in the supermarkets will come from chickens fed non-GM animal feed.

Sources: UK supermarkets, British Egg Industry Council, Soil Association, Friends of the Earth

The GM debate

The argument for
Can help to feed the world’s growing population with crops that produce bigger yields and use less land.

Is a more environmentally friendly crop as it requires only one herbicide applied once, so reducing carbon emissions, as well as less tilling of the soil, so limiting erosion.

Will give rise to new “supercrops” that will be developed to resist drought, survive frosts and combat common pests.

Will help to provide food with higher level of vitamins and that stays fresh for longer.

The argument against
Is a form of “genetic pollution” that contaminates other plants and encourages the growth of super-resistant weeds.

Does not guarantee higher yields. A University of Kansas study found GM crops yielded about 10% less than non-GM.

Encourages vast plantations dedicated to cultivating only one crop, which can devastate areas of biodiversity.

Has not delivered on its promises. Supercrops, such as those that resist drought, have not yet materialised.

Gives huge power to the seed companies such as Monsanto to sell products at higher prices once a crop is established. This will hit impoverished farmers, particularly in developing countries.

GM crops: the facts

GM crops In 2009, 14m farmers planted 330m acres of GM crops in 25 countries, including soya, cotton, maize and potatoes.

The US, Brazil, Argentina, India and Paraguay are among the biggest producers.

Genetically modified crops for commercial production were introduced in 1996. The technology takes genes from one plant and introduces them into another to confer a desired trait.

More than half of the world’s soya production is genetically modified. In Paraguay, GM soya now covers more than 5.4m acres.

GM maize has been approved for cultivation in the EU since 2004 and is mainly used for animal feed. A GM potato for industrial use was also given EU approval just earlier this year.

Since 2000, there have been 54 trials in the UK involving GM crops, including herbicide-resistant oil-seed rape, maize and beet.