Help needed

[RodISHI]

Everyone small farms need your help. If you can take just a few minutes of your time and address this many of us out here in rural America would be very grateful. The USDA released its draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on Monsanto's GE, Roundup Ready alfalfa on December 14, 2009, and the comment period is now open until March 3, 2010.

I cannot stress enough the importance of people making their voices heard in this matter. We need to tell USDA we care about freedom and liberty enough to refuse to accept a giant taking over control of every seed of life by contaminating all seeds. Alfalfa seeds are pollinated

USDA’s preliminary determination is to once again deregulate GE alfalfa without any limitations or protections for farmers or the environment. USDA has completely dismissed the fact that contamination will threaten export and domestic markets and organic meat and dairy products. USDA is claiming that there is no evidence that consumers care about such GE contamination of organic!

The USDA is also claiming that consumers will not reject GE contamination of organic alfalfa if the contamination is unintentional or if the transgenic material is not transmitted to the end milk or meat product, despite the fact that more than 75% of consumers believe that they are purchasing products without GE ingredients when they buy organic. My ass! When I buy something labeled organic I fully expect that it does not have any genetic modifications in it.

The USDA claims that Monsanto’s seed contracts require measures sufficient to prevent genetic contamination, and that there is no evidence to the contrary. But in the CFS lawsuit requiring this document, the Court found that contamination had already occurred in the fields of several Western states with these same business-as-usual practices in place! USDA is lying and Monsanto heads the team there at USDA. This needs to stop NOW!

Tell USDA That You DO Care About Genetic Contamination of Organic Crops and Food! Tell them that they have an obligation to protect our environment from this contamination!
Docket No. APHIS-2007-0044

Below is the sample letter with our comments in it:

You can access this via this link to easily send one of your own and print it to send one by mail: Take Action: Tell USDA That You Care About GE Contamination of Organic Food!

We will be sending this letter out by regular US mail also.

Subject: Docket No. APHIS-2007-0044

Dear Tom Vilsak, Suzane Bond, Mike Pina, Rachel Iadicicco

Docket No. APHIS-2007-0044
Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, APHIS, Station 3A-03.8
4700 River Road Unit 118
Riverdale, MD 20737-1238

In USDA's Environmental Impact Statement (Docket No. APHIS-2007-0044) on genetically engineered alfalfa, USDA claims that there is no evidence that consumers care about contamination to organic alfalfa and alfalfa-derived foods from Monsanto's GE Roundup Ready alfalfa. As an organic consumer, I can tell you that I DO care.

Prohibition of genetic engineering (GE) is a fundamental tenet of the Organic Standard. In fact, the organic rule's failure to exclude GE from its first version was one of the main reasons why 275,000 people like me filed public comments in 1997, at the time the largest outpouring of public participation in the history of U.S. administrative procedure. Consumers care deeply about organic integrity, and GE is fundamentally not organic. Polls show that more than 75% of consumers believe that they are purchasing products without GE ingredients when they buy organic.

USDA also claims that consumers will not reject GE contamination of organic alfalfa if the contamination is unintentional or if the transgenic material is not transmitted to the end milk or meat product. The Organic Standard requires that livestock feed for animals used for meat, milk, eggs, and other animal products is 100 percent organic. As the Court found in the lawsuit that required this EIS, to "farmers and consumers organic means not genetically engineered, even if the farmer did not intend for his crop to be so engineered." Whether or not the end product is impacted is not the issue. Farmers' fundamental right to sow the crop of their choice is eliminated when it is contaminated with transgenes, and so is the public's ability to support meaningful organic food and feed production. Consumers like me will reject GE contamination of organic by any means or at any stage of sustainable food production.

USDA claims that Monsanto's seed contracts require measures sufficient to prevent GE contamination, and that there is no evidence to the contrary. In the lawsuit requiring this document, the Court found that contamination had already occurred in the fields of several Western states with these same business-as-usual practices in place! In general, where other GE crops were approved without restriction, contamination of organic and conventional seeds and crops is widespread and has been documented around the world. A recent report documented 39 cases in 2007 and more than 200 in the last decade. The EIS itself acknowledges that GE contamination may happen and includes studies that honey bees can cross-pollinate at distances over 6 miles, and Alkali bees at 4-5 miles, much further than any distances under Monsanto's "best practices."

As a consumer, I care about the contamination of organic foods and crops, and I expect USDA to do everything the agency can to protect organic farmers and consumers. The organic industry provides many benefits to society: healthy foods for consumers, economic opportunities for family farmers and urban and rural communities, and a farming system that improves the quality of the environment. However, the continued vitality of this sector is imperiled by the complete absence of measures to protect organic production systems from contamination and subsequent environmental, consumer, and economic losses. USDA must reject the deregulation of GE alfalfa and protect the integrity of organic.

We have a small acreage of natural alfalfa and clover. Our land has never had pesticides, GE hay planted or chemicals applied to it. If Monsanto is allowed to continued unabated our hay field will be as contaminated as any other out there that has been purposely planted Monsanto seed. I am appalled that our government agencies have allowed this invasion of nature to continue in such a manner as they have. This is outright theft! If USDA does not protect the citizens from this travesty they are complicit in the theft of our naturally grown hay.

Sincerely,

Rod Xxxxx

While you are there at True Food network you can also write your congressman and ask for protection from being used as a guinea pig via the food chain.

Tell Congress to Support Labeling and Safety Testing of GE Foods!

Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) has repeatedly introduced two bills related to GE crops and foods in the House of Representatives. The Genetically Engineered Food Right to Know Act would require mandatory labeling of all GE foods; the other, The Genetically Engineered Food Safety Act, would require mandatory, pre-market safety testing of GE foods.

We need you to contact your Representatives and encourage them to support these important bills!

It is shocking that the FDA has never developed binding federal rules to protect consumers from the food safety risks of genetically engineered foods. Unlike crops from traditional breeding, genetically engineered crops contain antibiotic-resistant marker genes, viral promoters and foreign proteins never before consumed by humans. Yet the FDA relies on the very companies that have a financial interest in bringing these biotech crops to market to assess their safety. FDA has stated, "Ultimately, it is the food producer who is responsible for assuring safety" of gene altered foods.

Congress must step up and fill the gaping regulatory hole left by the FDA to protect American consumers. The Genetically Engineered Food Safety Act would fill this hole by requiring mandatory pre-market safety testing for all GE foods.


The Genetically Engineered Food Right to Know Act would require mandatory labeling of genetically engineered foods. Here in America, we pride ourselves on having choices and making informed decisions. Under current FDA regulations we don't have that choice when it comes to GE ingredients in the foods we purchase and feed our families. Labeling is essential for me to choose whether or not I want to consume genetically engineered foods. Genetically engineered foods are required to be labeled in the 15 European Union nations, Russia, Japan, China, Australia, New Zealand, and many other countries around the world. As an American, I firmly believe I should also have the right to know if my foods have been genetically engineered. If food makers like Kraft and Kellogg's can label the products they sell in these countries, they can certainly do it in the U.S.

A recent poll released by ABC News found that 92 percent of the American public wants the federal government to require mandatory labeling on genetically engineered foods. As ABC News stated, "Such near-unanimity in public opinion is rare."

I hope you will listen to me and the other 92 percent of the American public who want mandatory labeling and show your support for American consumers by supporting and co-sponsoring the Genetically Engineered Food Right to Know Act. I look forward to a written response confirming your support.

I am appalled that congress has not taken action to protect our land from these invasive seed and pollens of these GM and GMO products. At the very least we should be able to make a free choice as to whether we wish to participate as guinea pigs for these genetically modified food products by mandatory labeling of these modified products.

Thank you!

Rod Xxxxx

 

[Mr.Fitnah]

They want food wars and starvation.
Its sci fi.

 

[Baruch Menachem]

Anyone else here eat alfalfa? I don't

 

[Claudette]

Anyone else here eat alfalfa? I don't

My horse does.

I feel for farmers but I also feel for those of us paying farmers TO NOT GROW CROPS.

 

[Mr.Fitnah]

What email did you submit it to the add to comment is missing
Looks like the time for comments is passed
'http://www.regulations.gov/search/Regs/home.html#docketDetail?R=APHIS-2007-0044

 

[RodISHI]

Anyone else here eat alfalfa? I don't

Our cows, rabbits, chickens, duck, geese, goats and wild game do. Bees also use the pollen to make honey.

This effects the most basic food chain.

“Alfalfa is cross-pollinated by bees, and this creates an opportunity for GM alfalfa to cross-pollinate with organic alfalfa, thereby causing GM contamination of the seed produced by the organic alfalfa (Center for Life Sciences and Department of Soil and Crop Sciences 2002). Along with the threat of cross-pollination creating GM contaminated progeny, seeds from GM fields can also be transported to a field by wind/animals/dirty equipment, and volunteer GM plants will result (Figure 2). Organic farmers with contracts to provide non-GM alfalfa seed will lose their contracts if even the slightest amount of GM contamination is detected (Associated Press 2002). Farmers have already faced the “seed invasion” posed by GM canola and soybeans which have blown into the fields and germinated, or have cross-pollinated with their crops and produced GM contaminated seed (Figure 3) (Cropchoice 2002).” [4]

The genetic construct being introduced into alfalfa originates from a sexually incompatible organism, and this transgene has the potential to be passed not only from one crop field to the next, but also to weeds, and into the wild (Lamkey 2002). Additionally, there is the question of horizontal gene transfer, in which genetic material can be passed nonsexually from one organism to another (Lamkey 2002). Under this circumstance, the genetic construct of GM crops could potentially be transferred to microorganisms, earthworms, arthropods, insects, birds, mammals and even human beings that interact with the crops (Ho, 2002).

Say No to Monsanto Genetically Modified Alfalfa!

 

[RodISHI]

What email did you submit it to the add to comment is missing
Looks like the time for comments is passed
'http://www.regulations.gov/search/Regs/home.html#docketDetail?R=APHIS-2007-0044

No it is open until March 3, 2010. I'm a member of The True Food Network so it generates the email page, see if this link for sign in as a different user will work.

Take Action: Tell USDA That You Care About GE Contamination of Organic Food!

They are saying people don't care because most people had no clue on the first round that ended in Feb. I know that is not true it is obscure as people are not aware of these things as they are shoved through. The same way every other piece of BS is used to take advantage of an unsuspecting public.

 

[RodISHI]

Apparently the first 60 days of the issue of genectically modified farm animals only 60 comments were considered by FDA when they made this decision to approve of patented GM animals. Sixty days that most of the general public had no clue that FDA was approving of patented livestock that it is to be fed to the public without their knowledge or informed consent.



FDA's Response to Public Comments

"According to the Dockets Branch, the Draft Guidance # 187 received a total of almost 29,000 comments as of mid-December 2008. Of this total, approximately 28,000 either were form letters or simply made general statements about GE animals or the guidance. Of these, the vast majority opposed the genetic engineering of animals. The remaining 797 comments contained specific suggestions or criticisms. Of these, approximately 60 were what we consider to be substantive, because they provided detailed analyses, recommendations, or opinions. They came from consumers, academics, animal advocacy groups, trade and professional associations, consumer and environmental groups, foreign governments, other federal and state government agencies, developers of GE animals, meat producers and purveyors, and pharmaceutical companies."

FDA's Response to Public Comments

I. General Overview of Status

On September 18, 2008, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA or the agency) released Draft Guidance for Industry #187: Regulation of Genetically Engineered Animals Containing Heritable rDNA Constructs via the Docket’s Division. The guidance document clarifies that the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA or the Act) new animal drug provisions and its implementing regulations apply to the recombinant DNA construct in genetically engineered (GE) animals. 1This draft document was open to public comment for a period of sixty days; the comment period closed on November 18, 2008.

FDA’s Dockets Branch received and logged in comments according to the date of receipt. Once entered into the Docket’s system, each comment was forwarded to the staff of FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM or the Center), for review by the Center’s scientific staff. In this response document, we provide a general summary of all of the public comments we received, and our response to them.

G. Biopharm Animals

A number of comments addressed FDA oversight of animals genetically engineered to produce human or animal pharmaceuticals or medical devices for humans ("biopharm" animals). Most expressed support for the regulatory process for such animals described in the guidance, as well as support for FDA to publish a guidance with more detail on that process, particularly regarding coordination and cooperation between CVM and the FDA center responsible for review and approval of the human pharmaceutical. One comment stated that CVM oversight of biopharm animals was unnecessary because it was duplicative of oversight by the FDA center responsible for the human pharmaceutical, as well as of oversight by APHIS of animal health. It stated that start-up companies had limited resources and could ill afford complying with duplicative requirements.

We appreciate the concern of start-up companies that regulation not be duplicative and unnecessarily onerous. CVM and the other relevant FDA centers are working closely together to ensure that the regulatory process for biopharm animals is as coordinated and streamlined as possible, consistent with our statutory obligations. As noted above, we are also working with APHIS to ensure appropriate coordination and communication. To date, our experience indicates that the process for biopharm animals is working smoothly and is not creating an undue burden on sponsors. We intend to publish additional guidance in the future on oversight of biopharm animals. This guidance will discuss the process in more detail, particularly with respect to coordination between CVM and the FDA Center responsible for oversight of the extracted product to be used in humans or other animals, and will provide interested stakeholders the opportunity to comment on that regulatory process.

H. Food Labeling

The issue of labeling food from GE animals comprised a significant proportion of comments submitted to the agency. Most comments urged the agency to require mandatory labeling of food products from GE animals, citing a consumer "right to know." Some comments took the opposite view, even recommending that FDA ban voluntary labeling to indicate that a food did not come from a GE animal.

Under section 403(a)(1) of the Act, a food is misbranded if its labeling is false or misleading in any particular way. Section 201(n) of the Act further defines misleading labeling. Labeling meets that definition if it fails to reveal facts that are material in light of representations made or suggested in the labeling, or material with respect to consequences that may result from the use of the food to which the labeling relates under the conditions of use prescribed in the labeling, or under such conditions of use as are customary or usual. Historically, the agency has generally interpreted the scope of "materiality" to mean information about the attributes of the food itself. Thus, if food from a GE animal is different from its non-engineered counterpart (for example, if it has a different nutritional profile), the difference could be material information that would have to be indicated in the food labeling. FDA does not consider the methods used in the development of bioengineered foods, including GE animals, to be "material" information. 2Food marketers may voluntarily label foods as being derived from GE or non-GE animals, as long as the labeling is truthful and not misleading.

 

[KissMy]

This is worse than your wildest dreams & it has already happened over 12 years ago. Monsanto & others have patented & modified most of the useful plants on the planet. These plants have cross pollinated nearly all the natural plants in the world. Monsanto has won all lawsuits against people in every UN country refusing to pay Monsanto's technology fees on GMO crops whether you planted their seed or not. Monsanto owns all the food supply period. There is one Canadian farmer who may beat Monsanto but, I will have to read up on Monsanto vs Percy Schmeiser.

There are GMO fish & other wild life that have escaped & gone on to reproduce dominate genetically modified offspring. These animals are dominating all the others & will some day wipe out the natural animals.

Humans are next!

Be careful when writing congress telling them to impose tough food labeling laws. This makes it illegal for neighbors to trade locally grown food. That means if you neighbor has chickens & you buy some of his eggs you commit a federal crime. You also can't trade your garden tomatoes for his sweet corn. We do not want to wind up only being able to buy food from large corporations like Wal-Mart.

 

[FireFly]

Schmeiser pleased with victory over Monsanto

In an out of court settlement finalized on March 19, 2008, Percy Schmeiser has settled his lawsuit with Monsanto. Monsanto has agreed to pay all the clean-up costs of the Roundup Ready canola that contaminated Schmeiser's fields. Also part of the agreement was that there was no gag-order on the settlement and that Monsanto could be sued again if further contamination occurred. Schmeiser believes this precedent setting agreement ensures that farmers will be entitled to reimbursement when their fields become contaminated with unwanted Roundup Ready canola or any other unwanted GMO plants.

Monsanto's take on Schmeiser

The truth is Percy Schmeiser is not a hero. He’s simply a patent infringer who knows how to tell a good story. Unlike his neighbors, and the vast majority of farmers who plant patented seeds, Schmeiser saved seed that contained Monsanto’s patented technology without a license. As indicated by the trial court in Canada, the seed was not blown in on the wind nor carried in by birds, and it didn’t spontaneously appear. Schmeiser knowingly planted this seed in his field without permission or license. By doing so, he used Monsanto’s patented technology without permission. In fact, the courts determined this in three separate decisions.

 

[uscitizen]

There will be some horrible outcome from GE that will rock the world. I am not sure what it will be though.

GE crops cause Autism?

Or maybe:
Obama found to be a GE and therefore not a natural born citizen.
Support the GE citizenship movement today.

 

[CrimsonWhite]

Anyone else here eat alfalfa? I don't

Alfalfa is what food eats.

 

[uscitizen]

Isn't that pedophillia?

 

[RodISHI]

There will be some horrible outcome from GE that will rock the world. I am not sure what it will be though.

GE crops cause Autism?

Or maybe:
Obama found to be a GE and therefore not a natural born citizen.
Support the GE citizenship movement today.

GE crops take over natural crops. What are the proven side effects? That has not fully been answered yet but people are working on it as the adverse effects become more and more apparent.


Do you unleash a monster before knowing the damage that the monster will do or do you keep it on a leash until you fully understand it?

 

[JW Frogen]

Unleash that monster.

Hell, I for one want intelligent cocaine popcorn.

 

[dilloduck]

There will be some horrible outcome from GE that will rock the world. I am not sure what it will be though.

GE crops cause Autism?

Or maybe:
Obama found to be a GE and therefore not a natural born citizen.
Support the GE citizenship movement today.

GE crops take over natural crops. What are the proven side effects? That has not fully been answered yet but people are working on it as the adverse effects become more and more apparent.


Do you unleash a monster before knowing the damage that the monster will do or do you keep it on a leash until you fully understand it?

If it's a female monster you may as well cut it loose---they can never be fully understood.

 

[RodISHI]

Unleash that monster.

Hell, I for one want intelligent cocaine popcorn.

Okay but you have to insure Monsanto keeps it growing indoors, enclosed so it cannot contaminate my natural crops.

 

[eagleseven]

I have no issue with GMOs.

I do have issues with Monsanto's near-monopoly on America's seed supply.


If you indie farmers want to defeate Monsanto, don't fight their GMOs, fight their monopoly. Anti-trust laws and class-action lawsuits are you friend.

 

[RodISHI]

GM corn linked to organ damage.

Int J Biol Sci 2009; 5:706-726 ©Ivyspring International Publisher

Research Paper

A Comparison of the Effects of Three GM Corn Varieties on Mammalian Health

Monsanto GM-corn harvest fails massively in South AfricaUrgent investigation demanded
However environmental activitist Marian Mayet, director of the Africa-centre for biosecurity in Johannesburg, demands an urgent government investigation and an immediate ban on all GM-foods, blaming the crop failure on Monsanto's genetically-manipulated technology.
YouTube - Monsanto Indian Farmer Suicide

GM corn has cross pollinated with native species and destroys the natural. Alfalfa easily cross pollinates. One cannot protect their natural crops when this GM seed is unleashed. I have a problem with this when GM crops are going to destroy the natural crops we all depend on. Responsible people do not unleash destructive forces upon others and do not allow others to destroy what do not belong to them. Monsanto does not own this world and it is time for everyone to take a stand and demand that our government agencies serve the people's best interest not the corporations best interest that are destroying human lives and livelihoods. Call for accountability in our government offices to serve the people now!

Institute For Responsible Technology

Watch the video;
Expert Jeffrey M. Smith presents shocking evidence why genetically modified crops may lead to health and environmental catastrophes, and what we can do about it.

Doctors Call for GMO Moratorium
The American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM) has called for a moratorium on GM foods, long-term independent studies, and labeling. They called on “Physicians to educate their patients, the medical community, and the public to avoid GM (genetically modified) foods when possible and provide educational materials concerning GM foods and health risks.”

Pregnant women and babies at great risk
Among the population, biologist David Schubert of the Salk Institute warns that “children are the most likely to be adversely effected by toxins and other dietary problems” related to GM foods. He says without adequate studies, the children become “the experimental animals.”[2]

Wow, children are no better than animals when it comes to using them for experimentation, call me stunned.

The American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM)

The American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM) was founded in 1965 by a group of clinicians from various specialties who banded together and formed a medical society that has evolved into the American Academy of Environmental Medicine.
Our Mission

The mission of the American Academy of Environmental Medicine is to promote optimal health through prevention, and safe and effective treatment of the causes of illness by supporting physicians and other professionals in serving the public through education about the interaction between humans and their environment.

GM Crop Weed Killer Linked to Fungus
August 23, 2003
The Toxic War on Drugs
GM Crop Weed Killer Linked to Powerful Fungus
By JEREMY BIGWOOD

"Glyphosate-treated wheat appeared to have higher levels of Fusarium head blight (a toxic fungal disease) than wheat fields where no glyphosate had been applied." said Scientist Myriam Fernandez of the Semiarid Prairie Agricultural Research Centre in Swift Current, Saskatchewan in a recent interview. Fernandez added "We have not finished analysing the four years of data yet or written up the study." While Fernandez's research recently made headlines throughout Canada, it was not the first to discuss the relationship between glyphosate-containing weed killer formulations and the enhancement of potentially toxic fungi, but it was the first to report on the possibility of potentially toxic crop damage caused by the link in wheat and barley, two of Canada's most important crops.

Killer wheat fungus threatens starvation for millions
A WHEAT disease that could destroy most of the world's main wheat crops could strike south Asia's vast wheat fields two years earlier than research had suggested, leaving millions to starve. The fungus, called Ug99, has spread from Africa to Iran, and may already be in Pakistan. If so, this is extremely bad news, as Pakistan is not only critically reliant on its wheat crop, it is also the gateway to the Asian breadbasket, including the vital Punjab region.

Scientists met this week in Syria to decide on emergency measures to track Ug99's progress. They hope to slow its spread by spraying fungicide or even stopping farmers from planting wheat in the spores' path. The only real remedy will be new wheat varieties that resist Ug99, and they may not be ready for five years. The fungus has just pulled ahead in the race.

 

[RodISHI]

" * By Alexis Baden-Mayer, Esq.
Organic Consumers Association, November 20, 2009
Straight to the Source

TAKE ACTION: Stop Shah!

Most of the world's food is not produced by industrial mega-farms. 1.5 billion small farmers produce 75 percent of the world's food.

The hunger problem is not caused by low yields. The world has 6 billion people and produces enough food for 9 billion people.
"


Much more at the link,

The Case Against Rajiv Shah: Don't Let Monsanto Take Over USAID

- From the People's Food Sovereignty Now! Declaration, November 2009

President Obama announced a dramatic shift in the way the United States, the world’s largest provider of food aid, would address hunger and food shortages in foreign countries. The focus will now be on agricultural development in the countries it helps support, rather than having them remain recipients. As a member of the G8, the United States is committed to contribute toward:

* $20 billion over three years through [a] coordinated, comprehensive strategy focused on sustainable agriculture development, while keeping a strong commitment to ensure adequate emergency food aid assistance. … [This includes] country-owned strategies, in particular to increase food production, improve access to food and empower smallholder farmers to gain access to enhanced inputs, technologies, credit and markets.

It’s about time that the US and other rich countries that subsidize overproduction stopped dumping US-produced food on countries in a way that drives local producers out of the market and off their land. But, what do rich countries mean when they say, “enhanced inputs” and “technologies”?

“Enhanced inputs” and “technologies” is the language of the Green Revolution and the Gene Revolution that has come to see the 1.5 billion smallholders producing 75 percent of the world’s food as a potentially captive market for Monsanto’s patented, genetically engineered crops, the pesticides these crops are modified to produce or withstand, and the synthetic, fossil-fuel-based nitrogen fertilizers that spur their growth.

What? President Obama would work with multinationals like Monsanto, the chemical company of Agent Orange infamy, to push expensive inputs that threaten poor farmer’s access to clean water, arable land and the biodiversity cultivated by previous generations? This may come as a surprise to those of us who have been delighted by news of the White House organic garden and farmers’ market. Of course, no one who has followed Obama’s massive Wall Street welfare schemes, the Bailout, Health Care and Carbon Markets, will raise an eyebrow.

For both the shocked and the jaded, I offer the following on Obama’s ties to Monsanto.