Corn and the GM debate

As some of our products are made from corn, customers, including The Ethical Co-op expressed concerns about whether or not our products are GM free. Given our personal involvement in environmental activism, we share those concerns over the GM issue when it comes to biodegradable alternatives to petroleum- based plastics and Green Home is passionate about promoting biodegradable alternatives that are ethically produced and GM-free. Unfortunately, as the manufacturing process is out of our hands, we cannot guarantee that our products are always 100% GM-free. Even though the bags that customers, like Ethical Co-op, use are manufactured here, the raw material is produced outside of SA. As this is a new (but very much in demand) product, most manufacturers cannot, at this stage, only secure GM-free corn in producing bioplastic.

In the same way that the Ethical Co-op and others, have decided to sell organic products that are produced outside of SA and flown in to create a demand for organic produce at home, we have also had a dilemma in weighing up the lesser of the two evils. Our strategy is to promote and ensure that biodegradable alternatives take off in SA (and obviously source GM-free products as much as possible) so that we can pressurise the industry into ensuring GM-free bioplastics in the long-term. Read more about this debate in a great article in the Smithsonian Magazine entitled ‘Corn Plastic to the Rescue’.