Center for Food Safety to lead coalition to protect public, farmers and environment from GE crop hazards
The Center for Food Safety today announced that it will lead a coalition of concerned farmers, consumers and environmentalists to hold USDA accountable in its responsibility to protect all farmers and consumers. The move comes in response to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) release of a draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) that sets forth its plans to once again allow unlimited, nation-wide commercial planting of genetically-engineered (GE) Roundup Ready alfalfa. USDA plans to move ahead despite increasing evidence that GE alfalfa will threaten the rights of farmers and consumers, as well as damage the environment.
“Allowing Roundup Ready alfalfa to be grown in fields across America without restriction spells the elimination of farmers like me who grow alfalfa and choose not to use Monsanto’s GE crops,” said Phillip Geertson, a conventional alfalfa seed grower and plaintiff in a lawsuit brought by the Center in 2007. “Bees spread pollen for miles; it’s inevitable that the GE pollen will invade conventional and organic alfalfa, making it virtually impossible to grow non-GE alfalfa in just a few years.”
In the lawsuit brought by CFS, a Federal court ruled in 2007 that the USDA’s approval of GE alfalfa violated environmental laws by failing to analyze risks such as the contamination of conventional and organic alfalfa and the development of “superweeds” that are resistant to Monsanto’s herbicide, Roundup. The court banned the planting of GE alfalfa until USDA completed a rigorous analysis of these impacts. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals twice affirmed the national ban on GE alfalfa planting. In their court-ordered assessment released today, USDA once again dismissed the potential that organic and conventional alfalfa will be endangered due to biological contamination.
“GE alfalfa threatens the very fabric of the organic industry. Organic consumers want seeds and products to not be polluted by GE,” explained George Siemon, one of the founding farmers and CEO of Organic Valley. “In order for dairy products to be marketed as organic, certified organic alfalfa must be used as forage. When contamination of GE alfalfa becomes widespread, organic dairy farmers will no longer be able to give that assurance.”
“USDA’s announcement is simply business as usual, once again catering to Monsanto’s corporate interests at the expense of farmers and consumers,” stated Andrew Kimbrell, Executive Director of the Center for Food Safety. “This is a huge disappointment coming from the Obama administration, which has repeatedly claimed to support family farms and consumers’ right to know what’s in their food.”
Following the release of the EIS, the USDA will announce a 60-day public comment period beginning on Friday December 18, 2009. CFS encourages all concerned parties to share their views about the future of GE alfalfa by submitting comments to the USDA. Kimbrell concluded, “We will mobilize to make sure the USDA knows that the American public will not allow their right to safe food to be taken away so easily.”
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The Center for Food Safety is national, non-profit, membership organization, founded in 1997, that works to protect human health and the environment by curbing the use of harmful food production technologies and by promoting organic and other forms of sustainable agriculture. On the web at: http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org
Press Contacts: George Kimbrell, 571-572-8618; Zelig Golden, 415-826-2770; John Bianchi, 212-576-2700
Filed under: GE Crops, GE Food, Massive disappointments, Organics, Politics and Policy
If the engineered corn is grown and harvested for fuel purposes, then how we raised the corn shouldn’t matter….because in the long run it will be beneficial to the environment. I am speaking to resonsible planters/farmers that do NOT RAPE their land. BUT, if this corn is mass produced for consumer consumption…that I can NOT agree with. There is too much we just don’t know as far as how it will effect those that consume it and then degrate the land its grown on….think people, read!!! One solution does not solve EVER PROBLEM!!!!! We can do this.
Very tricky to find the proper avenue to submit comments relating to this issue. Not sure why this news release was not assigned a “release number”, but regardless, comments are allowed for 60-days from 12/18/09.
found it here:
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/newsroom/content/2009/12/alfalfa.shtml
[...] on top of food and agricultural issues the Center for Food Safety is a great place to go. Here’s their article about GE Alfalfa. Filed under Article, Miscellaneus, Politics | Comment [...]
I am abhorred at this discovery. Isn’t Monsanto running the non-gmo soybean and corn farmers out of business enough? Monsanto isn’t king, but if this doesn’t stop they will be. There is no need for gmo alfalfa. GMO alfalfa will make it impossible to grow organic or non-contaminated alfalfa for dairy farms. What then? Alfalfa grows everywhere is this country just fine. Why bathe more soil in round-up poison? Arent’ we contaminated enough? when will farmers stand up and put a stop to this?
I feel sick.
I am utterly concerned about what is in the food that I eat. I feel that the people of the United States should know what is in out food products and that the USDA is taking advantage of its power. All they want is money and that exactly what they will be getting if GE alfalfa becomes widespread. The only reason we voted them in there is for them to watch out for the peoples safety, and they are not doing that, for example the e-coli out break. If the public new more about what they consume they would make wiser choices.
GE alfalfa threatens the very fabric of the organic industry. Organic consumers want seeds and products to not be polluted by GE,”. “In order for dairy products to be marketed as organic, certified organic alfalfa must be used as forage. When contamination of GE alfalfa becomes widespread, organic dairy farmers will no longer be able to give that assurance.”
We consumers do not want it. And don’t appreciate our food not being labelled as… GMO!
Before it is decided that this can be done the question should be asked “should it be done?” The pressure being brought to bear is driven by potential profits and not for the good of the crop it will produce. Nor is it for the good of the people that will consume it.
What about the potential impact of the GE pollen on the bee’s that will be exposed to it. Has a study looked at the possibility the bee could become “modified” or extinct. What about the effect on the honey the bee’s produce; the animals that eat the honey; the animals that live off the bee’s; and so on. The entire food chain could be adversely effected.
Is it possible that once started, it will be difficult or impossible to stop the complete elimination of GE free organic foods. This is a concern for everyone.
Any citations using our materials should list “Center for Food Safety” as the author, unless one is specifically listed. Sometimes on reports we have specific authors, but otherwise it’s a group product. Good luck on your paper!