Marketing Versus Sustainability

The U.S. Farmers and Ranchers recently conveyed their concern over yogurt company Dannon's pledge to move their of their brands to made with non-GMO ingredients along with non-GMO feed for the cows sourcing the milk. National Milk Producers Federation chairman and dairy farmer Randy Mooney says

Mooney: "This move away from biotechnology is the exact opposite from the sustainability they claim to be seeking. Plain and simple biotechnology is an advancement in farming technology that has dramatically improved the sustainability of American agriculture over the last t 20 years. Even in their response Dannon acknowledges both the safety and sustainability of GMOs so why then do they continue to imply with their pledge that biotechnology is somehow unsafe, unsustainable or otherwise undesirable. So we are frustrated that Dannon is taking away a choice that has enabled us to grow more and better crops with less energy with fewer and safer pesticides, needing less water and improving soil conservation. That is how crop biotechnology has helped us. Turning the clock back 20 years on improvements and farm productivity makes no sense than if Dannon returned to the computer technology that it used in the mid-1990s. If Dannon wants to give consumers what they describe as a more natural and sustainable eating option, then they should be cheering agricultural biotechnology not demonizing it."