For related articles and more information, please visit OCA’s Millions Against Monsanto page, Genetic Engineering page and our Oregon News page.

An Iowa farmer who claims pigs exposed to genetically modified organisms suffer more ailments than other animals will speak in Ashland next week in support of a local campaign to ban GMOs here.

Howard Vlieger, of Maurice, Iowa, conducted experiments in which a group of pigs was fed corn and grain treated with GMO herbicides and a control group wasn’t. The pigs exposed to GMOs showed digestive, immunity and reproductive problems, while the control group didn’t, he said. As a result, the GMO group needed more antibiotics for E. coli and botulism, he added.

Vlieger, who has conducted studies over the past 20 years, will give presentations Tuesday and Wednesday, Jan. 28-29, throughout the Rogue Valley. He is being sponsored by GMO-Free Jackson County, a campaign to support a May ballot measure that would mostly ban GMOs locally.

“Before there are fundamental changes to the food supply, there should be mandatory, independent, third-party safety testing to prove that no harm has been introduced into the food supply – and this has not happened,” Vlieger said in a phone interview.

The GMO group showed ulcers, bloody bowel syndrome, ileitis (gut irritation) and salmonella, he said.

Vlieger said he has only a high school education and has not been to a research facility involved in GMO testing. The lead on-site researcher in his study was Dr. Judy Carman, biochemist and adjunct associate professor from Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia.