On March 2, 2004, Mendocino County, California voters banned production of genetically modified (GMO) crops and animals there. Mendocino is the first county in the U.S to implement such a ban, inspiring people across the U.S. and the world to follow suit.
Indeed, halfway across the world, a major agricultural states in Australia, including Western Australia, Tasmania and Victoria, passed, or will soon pass, GE crop bans. Monsanto and its GMO peers, of course, don’t like the idea. The Organic Consumers Association reports the biotech lobby will soon introduce a bill in California to nullify the Mendocino ban and make it illegal for other California counties to pass similar laws.
Allan Noe, Vice-President of Crop Life International, a front group for Monsanto and corporate agribusiness, told the San Francisco Chronicle on March 30, “We’re looking at a number of things to remedy the situation… a court challenge to Mendocino’s ban, an attempt to pass state legislation to prevent counties passing such bans or persuade the federal government, which regulates biotech products, to halt local bans.”
Monsanto is pressuring Canada to approve its GMO wheat and had said it would not press the U.S. for approval until Canadian regulatory officials were ready to approve the controversial crop. Because of strong resistance to GMO wheat from Canadian citizens and farmers, Monsanto says it may move forward in the U.S. also.
“If we introduce GMO wheat and the Canadians do not, that would make it easier for countries to continue to insist on buying from a country that is GMO-free and it would give Canada a distinct marketing advantage,” said U.S. Wheat President Alan Tracy. [sorry this link is no longer available]
The Organic Consumers Association has launched a campaign called the Biodemocracy Alliance to defeat this legislation and spread GE-Free zones across at least a dozen of California’s 59 counties, as well as counties all over the U.S.
Indeed, halfway across the world, a major agricultural states in Australia, including Western Australia, Tasmania and Victoria, passed, or will soon pass, GE crop bans. Monsanto and its GMO peers, of course, don’t like the idea. The Organic Consumers Association reports the biotech lobby will soon introduce a bill in California to nullify the Mendocino ban and make it illegal for other California counties to pass similar laws.
Allan Noe, Vice-President of Crop Life International, a front group for Monsanto and corporate agribusiness, told the San Francisco Chronicle on March 30, “We’re looking at a number of things to remedy the situation… a court challenge to Mendocino’s ban, an attempt to pass state legislation to prevent counties passing such bans or persuade the federal government, which regulates biotech products, to halt local bans.”
Monsanto is pressuring Canada to approve its GMO wheat and had said it would not press the U.S. for approval until Canadian regulatory officials were ready to approve the controversial crop. Because of strong resistance to GMO wheat from Canadian citizens and farmers, Monsanto says it may move forward in the U.S. also.
“If we introduce GMO wheat and the Canadians do not, that would make it easier for countries to continue to insist on buying from a country that is GMO-free and it would give Canada a distinct marketing advantage,” said U.S. Wheat President Alan Tracy. [sorry this link is no longer available]
The Organic Consumers Association has launched a campaign called the Biodemocracy Alliance to defeat this legislation and spread GE-Free zones across at least a dozen of California’s 59 counties, as well as counties all over the U.S.
On another similar subject, the Hudson Institute’s Center for Global Food Issues (CGFI), another agribusiness and biotech front group, will be using a new label on on “qualifying” products: “Earth Friendly!” Which products? GMO foods, factory farmed meat and dairy products.
The corporate-funded group says they have a right to label products as such, given their “scientific” opinion that certain aspects of GE crops and densely packed feedlots are better for the environment than organic agriculture.
Sign the GMO petition:
[sorry this link is no longer available]
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