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Monsanto Wins Supreme Court Case: Genetically Modified Alfalfa Ban Lifted
I was surprised not to see this here already as it was the front page of the Oregonian yesterday.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/21/monsanto-wins-supreme-cou_n_619657.html threeup_js('Green', '619657', '1');
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Re: Monsanto Wins Supreme Court Case: Genetically Modified Alfalfa Ban Lifted
Fvck.
This really pisses me off. I have a right to be able to avoid GM foods, and they are increasingly making that impossible, despite so many valid and serious concerns.
Thanks for posting this A&J, I was just coming here to post the same thing. Here's another article on the same ruling:
http://alturl.com/anm8
I'm really pissed off too. If any of you remember, Alisha and I prepared a public comment for the Environmental Impact Statement of GMO alfalfa, and I presented the comment at a public meeting back in March. Out of the 10 people who spoke at the meeting, I was the only person who was against it. People like us seem to be the only ones who have a problem eating GMO food, and as you pointed out, it's in everything. There's virtually no way to avoid it. And Monsanto has no idea what the long-term impacts of GMO foods are. Alfalfa is an especially seriously problem because it's a perrenial that's pollinated by bees. It will be the first GMO crop of its kind.
Monsanto seems to be releasing a new Roundup-Ready GMO crop every few years. It's only a matter of time until all our produce, like tomatoes and peppers and onions and lettuce, is GMO too. I heard somewhere that they're currently working on GMO eggplant
Just like what has already happened with corn, soy, canola, and cotton, after a few years non-GMO seed will be harder to find and a lot more expensive, and then everything we eat will be genetically modified to resist Roundup, a herbicide that kills weeds. I don't understand how Monsanto can honestly think something that kills plants won't be harmful to humans, especially in the large quantities we will all eventually be eating it. They must be eating GMO food just like everyone else.
Like I said on my President Cancer Panel post yesterday, half of the government issue warnings for the obvious dangers of pesticides, herbicides, and monocultures, and other side encourages the exact same practices. It's insane!
Seriously...where are the Roundup-Ready Humans at?
It's really disappointing and quite scary.
Hmm, another look at it???
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andrew-kimbrell/supreme-court-case-a-defe_b_620087.html
Here's the article from the Center for Food Safety with more details: http://truefoodnow.org/2010/06/21/supreme-court-ruling-in-monsanto-case-is-victory-for-center-for-food-safety-farmers/.
And here's another one with the same take on the ruling http://www.grist.org/article/food-supreme-court-ruling-on-monsanto-alfalfa/, but it had this info as well:
So there is still some hope in this case...
Thanks for that article, lefty. I was unclear on that. When I had read it in the Oregonian it just briefly mentioned that the planting of it still was not approved, but it didn't explain it. Looks like we still have some hope after all.
I know this is all very discouraging and the people you talk to on here seem to be the only ones concerned. But there is more concern than we know, sometimes. Maybe it's because I live in a super-hippie town or work for a health food company, but I talk to tons of people all the time who are concerned about GMO and other food system problems. There is enough of a market for natural foods from identity preserved sources that I don't think, luckily, we will ever not have the choice. Hopefully there is enough of a demand to keep more businesses in it and keep prices reasonable.
This portion of that article is incorrect:
A GMO item having "regulated status" means you have to have a permit from the USDA's Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) in order to plant. It is not "illegal to plant." The Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) prepared by Monsanto is to grant GMO alfalfa "deregulated status," which means it can be planted anywhere without an APHIS permit. There are huge monocultures of regulated plants,being a regulated item doesn't mean it's only planted in a few test farms or something like that. APHIS loves to issue permits because they tons of fees ($$). Plus, there are already hundreds of thousands of acres of GMO alfalfa from when it was planted before the lower court issued its injunction. Alfalfa is a perennial, so that's all still there.
I'm not suprised that my source, an agribusiness website, says Monsanto won, and the Huffington Post and the Center for Food Safety says they won. In spite of being the highest ruling court, the Supreme Court ruling was vague and open to interpretation.
MrsA&J, I'm trying not to get discouraged, but the people who care about GMOs, like you and your community, are very few and far between. As I said in my post above, I drove 2 hours each way to attend the public meeting for GMO alfalfa, and out of the 10 people who spoke at the meeting, I was the only person who was against it. The other 9 people were alfalfa farmers or traders, who could.not.wait to have GMO alfalfa available again. Several of them came up to me after the meeting, and tried to convinence me why GMO alfalfa was good for farmers and good for the environment. All the Monsanto people at the meeting were extremely chummy with the USDA reps, they all shook hands and patted each other on the back. I cried all the way home from that meeting, because I know my input didn't matter a damn bit. I'm glad I went though, imagine if I hadn't! There would have been no.one.there to speak out against it. The environmental and organic groups who backed the lawsuit, like the Organic Consumers Association, Center for Food Safety, and the Sierra Club, didn't send a single representative to this meeting, in spite of all of them having offices in the Washington D.C. area.
Every person I've ever told about GMO foods doesn't care, or says "what I don't know won't hurt me." These are the environmental contractors I work for, or DH's friends and co-workers. I spend an enormous amount of time avoiding GMO when I shop, the vast majority of people don't even buy organic, let alone non-GMO.
So yes, I am a Debbie Downer about this. I do think it's only going to get worse. It makes me so glad that DH and I are growing our own food, and that I'm working for a Farmer's Market vendor who grows their produce organically.
This was in my Organic Bytes e-newsletter:
Kucinich on GMOs: "Why do we continue to throw precaution to the wind?"
"Today the Supreme Court ruled that when it comes to genetically modified organisms, we as consumers have to wait until the damage is done and obvious before we can act to protect health and the environment, even if that damage could be irreversible."
"Haven't we learned from the catastrophe in the Gulf of the dangers of technological arrogance, of proceeding ahead with technologies without worrying about the consequences? Why do we continue to throw precaution to the wind?
"Tomorrow I will introduce three bills that will provide a comprehensive regulatory framework for all Genetically Engineered (GE) plants, animals, bacteria, and other organisms. To ensure we can maximize benefits and minimize hazards, Congress must provide a comprehensive regulatory framework for all GE products. Structured as a common-sense precaution to ensure GE foods do no harm, these bills will ensure that consumers are protected, food safety measures are strengthened, farmers' rights are better protected and biotech companies are responsible for their products."
- Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), a long-time advocate of family farmers and organic foods, on June 21, 2010, after the Supreme Court voted 7-1 to allow the experimental planting of genetically modified alfalfa seed before an environmental review is completed.
In northern Virginia. The public meeting I spoke of was at the USDA's APHIS headquarters in Maryland. So I have virutally every regulary agency within driving distance, plus all the lobbists and activist groups that work with them. I e-mailed both the Organic Consumers Association and Sierra Club to tell them about the public meeting and encourage them to go.
I hope Kucinich's bill gets passed, but I seriously doubt it will. The USDA is extremely chummy with GE companies, Monsanto in particular, and both parties cultivate that relationship. There was a bill a few years back to require GMO foods to be labeled, and that failed.
Man, I am depressing today. Sorry guys.