Judge Revokes Approval of Modified Sugar Beets

[cory777]

Source: New York Times

LOS ANGELES — A federal district court judge late Friday revoked the government’s approval of genetically engineered sugar beets, saying that the United States Department of Agriculture had not adequately assessed the environmental consequences before approving them for commercial cultivation.

The decision by Judge Jeffrey S. White of Federal District Court in San Francisco appears to effectively ban the planting of the genetically modified sugar beets — which this year make up about 95 percent of the crop — until the Agriculture Department prepares an environmental impact statement and reconsiders approval of the crop, a process that might take a couple of years.

The decision could cause major problems for sugar beet farmers and sugar processors because nearly all sugar beets planted in the United States contain a bacterial gene that makes the plants resistant to the herbicide Roundup, or glyphosate. It is not clear there would be enough unmodified seed available for next spring’s planting.

Crops currently in the ground are unaffected by the ruling, which came in a lawsuit organized by the Center for Food Safety, a Washington advocacy group that opposes biotech crops.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/14/business/14sugar.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss

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Alternative Activist News http://activistnews.blogspot.com

[KT2000]

1. Good!

Now, require long-term health studies.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

2. Yeah, I don't want weeds growing out of my ears, do the

long term what KT said.

[skepticscott]

6. Long-term health studies

on what? Sugar?

[earcandle]

3. It is about time someone looked at the growth of genetic food and its dangerous effects.

[frontrange]

4. Hope this stops GMO beets in Boulder County

This is great news. See this link for info on idiots in Boulder County who want genetically modified beets to be grown on publicly owned land.

http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_13211978?source=pkg

[xchrom]

5. Recommend

[defendandprotect]

7. The idea of chemical fertilizers has already destroyed the nutrition in our foods . . .

one of the major reasons why everyone is essentially eating JUNK food and

hungry all the time!!

Your body keeps pushing for the nutrition the food no longer has!!

[TheMadMonk]

8. There are plenty of good environmental reasons why we should be cautious with GMOs.

The fucking "Frankenfood" argument is NOT one of them. It's nicely emotional, but almost entirely non-fact based. Could & might have absolutely no value without supporting evidence.

Arguing like Fred Phelps makes you every bit as a bad as Fred Phelps. Arguably worse, since he's an ignorant fuck.

[NobleCynic]

9. The lack of enough non-GMO seed for next year's planting...

illustrates perfectly the danger of GMO foods. A potentially crippling loss of genetic diversity, above and beyond the damage that simple corporate monoculture has already inflicted upon US agriculture.

But the whole frankenfoods are unsafe to eat angle? Yeah, uneducated luddite nonsense for the most part.