The Acts of Convention

House of Bishops

The House of Bishops Committee on Environmental Stewardship and Care of Creation presented its Report #1 on Resolution B006 (Support the Potential of Genetically Engineered Foods in the Care for Creation) and moved the resolution, recommending rejection.

Original Text of Resolution:

(B006)

Resolved, the House of Deputies concurring, That the 78th General Convention:

(i) Affirms that genetic engineering technologies have growing potential in care for creation and minimization of the human footprint in the community of life;

(ii) Affirms that sound uses of genetic engineering technologies flow from a proper sense of being human, as expressions of humanity’s creative task in care for creation;

(iii) Supports sound risk assessments of genetic engineering applications by limiting the scope of the Precautionary Principle and by directing attention instead to risks and risk management strategies; and be it further

Resolved, That the Office of Government Relations should advocate for the foregoing principles as they are implicated in federal legislation, policy and regulations; and be it further

Resolved, That the 78th General Convention should advocate for public policy and programs, investment of Church financial resources, and commitments of all other organizations affiliated with the Church to:

(i) Encourage development and deployment of crops suited to sustainable intensification of crop and livestock production.

(ii) Support technologies to mitigate and reverse threats to species and biodiversity caused by globalization and the resulting diffusions of invasive species and diseases;

(iii) Encourage development and deployment of crops and farming methods that compensate for limited capital resources of small producers in poor countries;

(iv) Encourage engineering and adoption of crops that promote public health by producing safer and more nutritious cultivars of crops important in traditional diets, particularly in poor countries; and be it further

Resolved, That the 78th General Convention should encourage churches and individual Episcopalians to reflect upon the theology of food and faith as it may bear upon stewardship of creation, and that churches and all Episcopalians in their daily lives endeavor to:

(i) Model healthful diet in church functions and community service engagements;

(ii) Ensure that food waste is minimized and that food which is not consumed is distributed for consumption by others or recycled through composting.

Motion defeated

Resolution rejected

(Communicated to the House of Deputies in HB Message #79)