Alternet - Jan 31 - 2010 - The USDA has ruled that farmers are now free to plant GE alfalfa, and USDA won't even keep track of who plants it where. The implications are huge. ==== Editor's Note: What can we Canadians do, you might ask? OUR LAST HOPE in defending against such Frankenfoods is to make sure OUR PARLIAMENT PASSES the bill, below. Please read, understand and SIGN THE PETITION! THANK YOU! JUST GO TO THIS PAGE & FOLLOW THE PROMPTS! l.p.
We just found out that Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack approved Monsanto's genetically engineered alfalfa for widespread planting this spring. This is outrageous and wrong, and it will hurt organic farmers.
The USDA decision to allow GE alfalfa to be planted unleashes another unnecessary genetically engineered crop into our environment and puts organic farmers at risk of widespread GE contamination. The agency did no real assessment of the harm that GE alfalfa could do, and caved to pressure from big agribusiness to approve this genetically engineered crop before the spring planting season.
President Obama is the last line of defense, and can stop the widespread planting of Monsanto's GE alfalfa. Take action now to demand President Obama stop this disastrous approval.
Sarah Alexander
Outreach Director
Food & Water Watch
goodfood(at)fwwatch(dot)org
Food & Water Watch is a nonprofit consumer organization that works to ensure clean water and safe food. We challenge the corporate control and abuse of our food and water resources by empowering people to take action and by transforming the public consciousness about what we eat and drink.
Jan 27, 2011: The US Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack......
Organic Consumers Asn: As Iowa Governor, Tom Vilsack was a leading advocate for Monsanto, genetic engineering, and factory farming. President Obama proudly lauded his new Agriculture Secretary for "promoting biotech."
Vilsack has, in fact, promoted the most controversial and dangerous forms of agricultural biotechnology, including pharma crops, plants genetically engineered to produce pharmaceuticals. When grown outdoors on farmland, where most pharma crop trials have occurred, pharma crops can easily contaminate conventional and organic varieties.
PARIS, Jan 24, 2011 (IPS) - Despite repeated warnings by environmental and climate experts that reduction of fossil fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions is fundamental to forestalling global warming, disaster appears imminent. (AFP/File/Natalia Kolesnikova) According to the latest statistics, unprecedented climate change has Earth hurtling down a path of catastrophic proportions.