GMO News - GMOs are Going Down!

AB 541 - The Food and Farm Protection Act
On February 21, 2007, Assemblymember Jared Huffman introduced Assembly Bill 541 to address the risks associated with GE contamination. This bill would put in place the only state laws related to GE agriculture in California to protect farmers, consumers, the food supply, the economy, and the environment. The proposed bill aims to defend farms and landowners by establishing their right to compensation for economic losses due to GE contamination, puts a GE crop notification process in place, and prohibits the open-air cultivation of food crops genetically engineered to produce pharmaceutical drugs. For more information on AB 541, go to http://www.gepolicyalliance.org.

Take Action on AB 541! Tell the Assembly Agriculture Committee to support this bill. http://ga3.org/campaign/CA_Liability_Bill/i6e5i832y63nib7 Make your voice heard today!

Victory! Precedent Setting Decision Rules Against USDA in GE Alfalfa Case
Federal Judge Charles Breyer, of the Federal District Court in San Francisco, ruled last month that the Agriculture Department violated federal environmental laws by failing to adequately assess legitimate environmental impacts prior to their approval of Monsanto’s GE alfalfa. The lawsuit, organized by the Center for Food Safety, alfalfa seed companies, and environmental and farm advocacy groups, is the first victory of this magnitude in history. In his ruling, the judge consistently found USDA’s arguments unconvincing, without scientific basis, and/or contrary to the law. This is seen as a major victory for farmers, the environment, and for those who advocate on behalf of both. Alfalfa is the countries third most valuable, and fourth most widely grown crop, with an annual worth of $8 billion.

Read more information… http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org …

Federal Ruling Against the USDA Concerning GE Field Trials
Last month, Federal district Judge Harold Kennedy ruled against the USDA in a lawsuit filed by the Center for Food Safety, the Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center, and other environmental organizations in 2003, citing potential threats to the environment. The ruling states that the USDA must now halt approval of all new field trials until more rigorous environmental reviews are conducted on a case by case basis. This lawsuit came after varieties of creeping bentgrass and Kentucky bluegrass, manufactured by both Monsanto and Scotts to resist Roundup, were discovered miles away from test plots, transferring their GE traits to native Oregon grasses. Last year, EPA researchers found that the escaped GE grasses had even contaminated a national grassland.

Read more on this… http://www.sustainablefoodnews.com/

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/06/AR2007020601712.html

Rice Producers of California Call for GE Rice Legislation
A recent study commissioned by the Rice Producers of California (RPC), now formally endorsed by the US Rice Producers Association (USRPA), concludes that GE rice production in California would severely jeopardize rice export markets in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Turkey, and the European Union (EU), who are all intolerant of GE foods. The RPC association is now calling for a moratorium on all open-air plantings of GE rice production, laws giving farmers compensation for economic damages due to GE contamination, and extensive seed testing to assure GE-free seed supplies. The report and call for legislation are a direct result of last summer’s plummeting rice prices ($150 million within a few days) due to an unapproved strain of GE rice being found in long-grain rice supplies across the nation.

Read more from the RPC… http://calriceproducers.org …

USDA Backs Production of Rice Engineered With Human Genes
The first commercial production of a food crop engineered to contain human genes was given a preliminary green light by the Agriculture Department, advancing fears that these crops will eventually turn up in unsuspecting foods. Sacramento-based Ventria Bioscience is leading the effort, calling for large-scale production of the GE rice in Kansas fields. The pharmacrop is slated to be used as an anti-diarrhea medicine and might be added to health foods like yogurt and granola bars. Critics and consumers agree that it is not wise to produce drugs in outdoor plants, as we’ve seen time and time again that GE contamination is inevitable.

Read more… http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/01/AR2007030101495.html

Take Action! Public Comments Accepted by the USDA until March 30th…
http://www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/component/main

State Bill 958 Banning GMO Taro Closer to Passing
What is believed to become the first GMO crop ban in the United States, as the state of Hawaii is poised to celebrate a minimum five year moratorium on GMO taro production in the state. After years of protest and efforts to protect taro from GMO patents, the near victory is strictly attributed to cultural reasons, for taro is known as a sacred native Hawaiian crop that has been cultivated on the islands for as long as time can tell. This casesends an important message about the strength of native peoples around the world who are saying no to genetic modification of their sacred, ancient crops.

Learn more… http://www.organicconsumers.org/ge/Hawaii022806.cfm

http://capitol.hawaii.gov/

House Bill 1577 Banning GMO Coffee in Hawaii Passes Through the House
The Hawaii State House of Representatives passed HB 1577, which aims to prohibit the outdoor planting and field trials of GMO coffee in the state, but allows for research in an environmentally controlled facility. The coffee bill will help protect Hawaii’s 175 year old coffee industry from GMO contamination and the severe economic losses that result from unwanted cross pollination. The bill is now being heard in the Senate.

Read more about HB 1577…
http://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/articles/2007/02/22/local_news/local03.txt
http://www.higean.org

Sign The Petition to Ban Pharmaceutical Crops!
The Union of Concerned Scientists is collecting signatures on a petition to ban applications of food crops engineered for pharmaceutical and industrial purposes. The potential contamination of food crops with hundreds to thousands of drug or industrial compounds poses a severe threat to our global food system.

Sign the petition today… http://www.ucsusa.org/food_and_environment/genetic_engineering/pharma-petition-to-usda.html

Syngenta Fined $1.52 Million for Modified Seed Sales
The world’s biggest crop chemical producer, Syngenta AG, was recently fined $1.52 million by the EPA for selling GM corn seeds without approval. The unapproved seeds were sold on 1,037 occasions from 2002 to 2004, and were planted on 37,000 acres in four states, prompting the European Union to ban corn-based animal feed from the United States in 2005.

Read more… http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/85daa4a9f7d7d930852570180054ef19/2df47c51f639be4e8525724b0069655c!OpenDocument