Not what we want to hear: Bioceres and Colorado Wheat Research Foundation are teaming up to bring genetically modified HB4 wheat to the US market, adding another chapter to the concerns that GMO wheat will be in the marketplace soon.
Approved by the USDA in August 2024, the partnership will make the trait accessible to breeders and farmers, and develop new unknown and potentially even more toxic herbicide formulations needed to grow HB4 wheat.
To keep GMO wheat out of our food supply, we need to put pressure on big companies like General Mills to reject HB4 wheat in their supply chains. We're calling on consumers to demand that General Mills, a major wheat buyer, to refuse to source GMO wheat.
In 2024, President Joe Biden’s Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said U.S. farmers could grow a GMO wheat variety that’s genetically engineered to soak up glufosinate, a pesticide that is 5 times more toxic than glyphosate and has been banned in the European Union since 2013. Glufosinate exposure is associated with low-birth-weight babies.
The USDA didn’t conduct a scientific review or offer opportunity for public comments before announcing its decision. That’s because of the GMO deregulation that President Donald Trump pushed through in 2020.
The glufosinate-tolerant wheat could become the first GMO wheat grown in the U.S. So far, its reach is limited to Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay. In addition, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Nigeria, and Indonesia allow GMO wheat to be imported for food and feed.
If this crop is integrated into our food system it would dramatically increase the load of agro toxins in the diet of Americans. As a major buyer of wheat in the US, we are asking General Mills to lead the way and pledge to reject this newly approved Genetically Modified wheat.
TAKE ACTION: Tell General Mills To Reject GMO Wheat!
Who’s behind this disaster? It’s an Argentine company called Bioceres that’s traded on the New York Stock Exchange and counts Monsanto (Bayer) among its investors. Eaters around the world have revolted at the idea of glufosinate-soaked GMO wheat with successful campaigns including “Not In Our Wheat” and “Bread without Poison.”
Bimbo, the largest bakery company in the world, announced in 2024 that it would go GMO Free. General Mills, which claims to be moving towards regenerative agriculture, needs to make that commitment as well. As a first step to get General Mills to stop all use of GMOs and go organic and regenerative, we ask them to reject this newly approved GMO wheat.
TAKE ACTION: Tell General Mills To Reject GMO Wheat!