Last week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that it will once again allow unlimited, nation-wide commercial planting of Monsanto’s genetically-engineered (GE) Roundup Ready alfalfa. This is a profoundly disappointing and disturbing decision. It was hoped by many in the organic farming community that the Obama USDA would recognize the major threat that GMO alfalfa represents to the survival of the thriving organic dairy industry. But instead the agency decided to appease Monsanto and a handful of other companies that will profit from the additional sales of herbicide that are used on these gene altered plants. The good news is that we’ve stopped GMO alfalfa and beaten Monsanto and the USDA before. And we need your help to do it again.
In 2007 we won a reversal of the approval of GE alfalfa. The court ordered a halt to all sales and planting until the agency could ensure that the environmental and economic impacts could be adequately addressed. Now after four years of this ban, the USDA has finalized an environmental impact statement that utterly fails to take a hard look at the dangers these plants represent to conventional alfalfa farmers, the organic dairy industry and consumer choice. These plants will also increase the crisis in “super weeds” resistant to herbicides that are now infesting millions of acres of American farmland.
So CFS is going back to court in the coming weeks with the hope of once again stopping GE alfalfa and prevailing against the government, Monsanto and other biotech companies. And it’s not just alfalfa -- we anticipate we’ll have to also litigate in the coming weeks to stop the planting of GE sugar beets and other GE crop approvals as well.
CFS is the first line of defense against the invasion of these crops. However, we have a small legal team to fight these difficult and drawn out court battles, compared to the USDA and numerous corporate law firms at Monsanto’s disposal. While we are confident that we will continue to succeed in these legal battles, your support is needed now more than ever to help us continue our fight to defend the rights of farmers and consumers and protect the integrity of organic dairy products.
This is a crucial time in the fight to preserve the integrity of organic crops and foods, protect consumers’ right to know, stand up for organic and conventional farmers, and protect our environment from the hazards of GE crops. In the coming months, we will be seeing USDA proposals to allow unrestricted plantings of GE corn and soy crops designed to resist highly toxic pesticides such as 2-4D and Dicamba, pesticides that pose a serious threat to our health and the environment. CFS will also challenge all these approvals.
So join us as a united front against the USDA and Monsanto. Help stop GE alfalfa NOW.
Please support CFS today by making a donation to CFS’s Legal Fund!Thank you for your support
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