A number of U.S. farm organizations have called on dairy and yoghurt processor, Dannon, to recognize that its sustainability goals cannot be achieved without employing modern agricultural technologies and practices, including the use of biotechnology.
Dannon is one of several prominent food manufacturers and retailers that in recent years has taken steps to eliminate genetically-modified (GM) ingredients from its supply, claiming that such a move improves the sustainability of its products.
A letter sent to the head of Dannon’s U.S. operations by U.S. farm groups said that the company’s strategy to eliminate GMOs “is the exact opposite of the sustainable agriculture that you claim to be seeking. Your pledge would force farmers to abandon safe, sustainable farming practices that have enhanced farm productivity over the last 20 years while greatly reducing the carbon footprint of American agriculture.”
The letter was cosigned by the farmer leaders of the American Farm Bureau Federation, American Soybean Association, American Sugarbeet Growers Association, National Corn Growers Association, National Milk Producers Federation and U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance.
These groups believe that biotechnology plays an important role in reducing the environmental footprint of agriculture, and challenged as disingenuous the assertion that sustainability is enhanced by stopping the use of GMO processes.