USDA to Fully Deregulate Monsanto's Genetically Engineered Alfalfa

USDA to Fully Deregulate Monsanto's Genetically Engineered Alfalfa
Universal Gene Contamination of Conventional/Organic Feed,
Milk, Meat and Other Products to Follow

I am an adamant supporter of organic for my health and the health or the planet!!! Here is the latest:

USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack announced this afternoon that the agency will fully deregulate Monsanto’s controversial genetically engineered alfalfa. The choice was favored by the biotech industry and one of three options identified in the USDA’s Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) released last month.

USDA could have maintained regulatory status over the perennial crop that is so important as forage for the livestock industry. Or they could have chosen a limited regulation strategy with bans on the planting of GE alfalfa seeds in seed growing regions to attempt to limit the contamination of alfalfa seed stock by foreign DNA from Monsanto’s crop (alfalfa is pollinated by bees and other insects and has a pollination radius of five miles). Instead, the agency, under heavy pressure from the biotech sector, chose total deregulation. Over 250,000 public comments were received during the FEIS process, with the vast majority opposing deregulation.

Vilsack did announce that the USDA would establish a second germ plasm/seed center for alfalfa in the state of Idaho to try and maintain GE-free strains of alfalfa. They currently operate such a facility in Prosser, WA. He said the FEIS process brought home two key points to USDA: choice and trust.

The Center for Food Safety, supported by The Cornucopia Institute and others, has been embroiled in a court case fighting the release of GE-alfalfa. Cornucopia is a formal plaintiff in the case. The legal matter has been on hold while the USDA completed its court-ordered EIS. Opponents of GE-alfalfa may soon determine their “choice” and resume the legal battle.

“We are extremely disappointed with the USDA’s decision to fully deregulate Monsanto’s GE-alfalfa. It appears that the political muscle of bio-tech sector trumped the many concerns about widespread contamination of organic and conventional alfalfa that were expressed by tens of thousands of consumers and farmers to the USDA. This action raises the likelihood of a renewed court challenge by the Center for Food Safety to GE-alfalfa, a case in which The Cornucopia Institute is a plaintiff.”

Will FANTLE
The Cornucopia Institute
P.O. Box 126
Cornucopia, WI 54827
715-839-7731
www.cornucopia.org

While to me, things don't look good, the easiest thing to do is to shut-up, and give up. Guess those roads are too boring for me!!! We all make choices, what will yours be?

BLESSINGS BEYOND BORDERS©,


Gina Villa-Grimsby