SPECIAL FEATURE
engineering ” are also used interchangeably .
• The actual disclosure is a marketing requirement and does not convey any information about the products ’ health , safety , or environmental attributes .
• Even if a product has bioengineered products contained in it — it is not required to be labeled if provided by a restaurant , food truck , train , airplane , delicatessen , or similar establishments or is made by a very small food manufacturer .
• When one sees the symbol , either a scannable link , text messaging , phone numbers , or websites will be provided to determine the actual information . It is not required to be on the product label ; just the actual symbol is required . The symbol may be in color or black and white .
• Finally , a second label that states “ Derived from Bioengineering ” will also be in use . When it is used , the food products do not contain detectable modified genetic material and , as such , are not considered to be “ bioengineered ” as defined by the labeling standard .
ACHIEVED RESULTS Have GMO crops achieved their purpose of increased crop yields while battling the pests they were intended to defeat ? For the most part , yields have increased with the utilization of GE seeds . There has also been a reduction in the use of pesticides and herbicides on GE crops . Back to that Purdue study . Their crop models show that , if we were to eliminate all GMOs in the United States , the following things would occur .
• Corn yields would decline some 11.2 percent .
• Soybeans would lose some 5.25 percent of their yields .
• Cotton would see a reduction in yield of 18.6 percent .
They further estimate that about 250,000 acres of US forest and pastureland would need to be converted to cropland to make up for that loss of yield . Globally ,
the impact would be even more significant . With climate change , challenges of saltwater intrusion along the coastlines , less cultivable land being available due to growing cities , and the intrusion of cities into farmland , it is thought that any current reduction in farm outputs would not yield beneficial results to the general populace .
EFFECT ON INSURANCE COVERAGE What about insurance coverages ? How , you may ask , might our current crop of insurance policies respond to some potential GMO-related losses ? Let ’ s consider a few possible loss situations .
Assume you have a food processor that normally handles organic products . Unwittingly , she takes in a nonorganic GMO crop , and it leaves residue behind that mixes into the next crop that she processes . Now she needs to clean her processing equipment so she can return to working with her organic clients . Where we may ask , is the coverage for this ?
Your farmer uses GMO seed . Some of the seeds , during their application , migrate to a neighboring property that grows non-GMO crops . A mixture of the two crops on that
Bremen Farmers Mutual Insurance Company
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