Organic Ag in Jeopardy, USDA Close to Approving GE Alfalfa

[marmar]

from Food Politics, via AlterNet:



Organic Ag in Jeopardy, USDA Close to Approving GE Alfalfa


The USDA seems to be paving the way for approval of genetically modified (GM) alfalfa with pleas for coexistence and cooperation. These will be needed. Organic alfalfa is the mainstay of organic animal feed. Organic standards exclude GM. But pollen from GM alfalfa transmits GM genes to organic alfalfa.

In releasing the Environmental Impact Statement on GM alfalfa, USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack used Cold War rhetoric:

We have seen rapid adoption of biotechnology in agriculture, along with the rise of organic and non-genetically engineered sectors over the last several decades… While the growth in all these areas is great for agriculture, it has also led, at times, to conflict or, at best, an uneasy coexistence between the different ways of growing crops. We need to address these challenges and develop a sensible path forward for strengthening coexistence of all segments of agriculture in our country.

USDA is working hard on this one. It held a stakeholders meeting to discuss the issues. Secretary Vilsack also wrote an open letter to stakeholders pressing the need for coexistence:

The rapid adoption of GE crops has clashed with the rapid expansion of demand for organic and other non-GE products. This clash led to litigation and uncertainty. Such litigation will potentially lead to the courts deciding who gets to farm their way and who will be prevented from doing so.

Regrettably, what the criticism we have received on our GE alfalfa approach suggests, is how comfortable we have become with litigation – with one side winning and one side losing – and how difficult it is to pursue compromise. Surely, there is a better way, a solution that acknowledges agriculture’s complexity, while celebrating and promoting its diversity.

By continuing to bring stakeholders together in an attempt to find common ground where the balanced interests of all sides could be advanced, we at USDA are striving to lead an effort to forge a new paradigm based on coexistence and cooperation. If successful, this effort can ensure that all forms of agriculture thrive so that food can remain abundant, affordable, and safe.

...........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/article/436614/organic_ag_in_jeopardy%2C_usda_close_to_approving_ge_alfalfa/

[msongs]

1. corporations' prostitutes always serve the needs of their corporate pimps lol nt

[Autumn]

2. Well shit. What an insidious cancer these GM crops

are becoming. I will not feeding that shit to my horses.

[truedelphi]

3. Unfortunately, if you own horses for another eight to ten years,

You probably will be feeding it. There will not be any way to avoid it.

Right now, due to the dominance of the GM wheat over conventional wheat, it is almost impossible to buy wheat that is not GM contaminated. (Even stuff labeled "organic.")

That is the whole point of having a bought and paid for government.
So that the Corporations can continue to put this GM stuff, like alfalfa, into the environment. And they know they need to do it rapidly - every day, yet another researcher in Asia and Europe discovers yet another cluster of worrisome conditions resulting from GM crap.

Monsanto and the other Big Agro firms know they have to slip this stuff in under the radar, before more Americans wake up to the fact that the arthritis, fibromyalgia, stomach ulcers, indigestion, acid reflux etc is often the result of the GM grains. (And if it isn't the grains themselves, it is the mold contained in those grains.)

I feel for you and your horses. And for everyone who really is trying to feed themselves and their family in a healthy way.

[Autumn]

8. My horses will have to get used to localy grown

prairie grass. A bought and paid for government is exactly what it is.

[Catherina]

5. It's unacceptable yet we won't even have a choice. This makes me so angry!

:hi:

[Hannah Bell]

7. that's capitalism! oh, there will be some kind of "choice" but you'll pay

through the nose. might as well feed the horses gold.

[Catherina]

10. I don't understand this "modern" world. Where's the progress?

This is the type of thing that first turned me off to capitalism. It's so thoroughly sickening.

[Autumn]

9. Hi

good to see you.:hi: Our choices grow less and less.

[Catherina]

11. Today I built a ton of boxes for container gardening

because I have no trust in our food supply

How dare they? :hi:

[Autumn]

12. I'm thinking of a small greenhouse.

We get so much wind. My flower pots have to be watered often because the wind just dries them out so bad. They do it because we don't matter to any of them.

[truedelphi]

4. Thanks for the heads up, marmar.

Short of moving over to France, I don't know what to do about it though.

(I really like your sig line.)

[marmar]

6. "Short of moving over to France...."

Sounds good to me. I'd love to call Paris 5e home.