Note: Organisms are being genetically engineered (GE or genetically modified) to have new traits such as faster growth, herbicide tolerance and insect and disease resistance. GE organisms create novel risks to the environment, biodiversity and local communities that requires rigorous analysis by governmental agencies using sound science that includes long-term assessments for safety. This announcement is further indication that people are not willing to accept genetic engineering of wild creatures. Now more than ever, our planet faces increasing environmental threats that will only be exacerbated by replacing wild ecosystems with genetically engineered salmon, mosquitoes, trees or any other organism being engineered as a false solution to climate change, forest restoration, resource management, etc.
Theresa Church-Assistant Director, Global Justice Ecology Project
Three largest food service companies in the U.S. have rejected genetically engineered salmon
Friends of the Earth 2 February 2021
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Top food service company Aramark just announced its commitment not to sell genetically engineered (GE) salmon. The producer of the salmon, AquaBounty Technologies, announced plans to sell its first-ever harvest in the U.S. in the first quarter of 2021.
The announcement came in an update of Aramark’s (NYSE: ARMK) Sustainable Sourcing Policy: “Reiterating our previously stated opposition to genetically engineered (GE) salmon, we will not purchase it should it come to market. Avoiding potential impacts to wild salmon populations and indigenous communities, whose livelihoods are deeply connected to and often dependent upon this vital resource, is core to our company’s commitment to making a positive impact on people and the planet.”
“This is an overdue but pivotal step towards real accountability and corporate integrity, one that every other company in the fisheries industry must make,” said Fawn Sharp, president of Quinault Indian Nation. “This incremental progress must continue as corporations learn to be morally accountable for their actions, and sincere and respectful partners to the Tribal Nations who have sustainably managed these fisheries since time immemorial.”
For the full release visit Friends of the Earth