Well friends, it seems its time to let our voices be heard… Please let the USDA know that the contamination of our food supply with Genetically Engineered crops is NOT OKAY!
The USDA is accepting public comments on this issue through February 16, 2010, so please take action now. Check out the Center for Food Safety’s TRUE FOOD Action Page for a quick and easy way to send a message: http://ga3.org/campaign/alfalfaEIS?rk=G1Mq6lSaH2M2E
I know many of us rely on the organic label to ensure that we’re not consuming or supporting genetic engineered crop production and the hegemonic companies that irresponsibly hawk them all over the world, so please do your food citizen duty and make your voice heard!
Best,
shelley and the WOAO? team
12 replies on “Tell USDA that GE contamination of Organic Food is NOT OKAY!”
I believe very strongly that genetically modified foods have not been tested adequately and are a health risk. At the VERY LEAST, the consumer should have the ability to make an informed choice when purchasing these products. ALL genetically modifed foods NEED to be labeled as such so consumers can decide if they are willing to roll the dice. I am not willing to do so and DEMAND that proper labeling should be enacted immediately.
Organic means NO GMO!
The situation is disgusting. The very food we eat is now being “privatized” Is this gov’t insane?Feed the soylent green to Congress and the FDA ONLY for at least 10 years before even thinking of springing this on the citizenry.
What can you possibly be thinking to consider that genetically modified food
is an option? That is a complete unknown and cannot possibly be called organic!
It is your responsibility to protect the heath and safety of the consumer, and the honesty in labeling of our food supply.
Please keep GM food out of our food system!
We want true food WITHOUT PESTICIDES AND ENGINEERING….IF YOU MUST DO THIS ,….TEST THEM ON YOUR FAMILY FIRST, FOR ABOUT 20 YEARS!!!!!
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.
Get it through your thick skulls. We insist that organic mean that the food is grown and cared for in the most non invasive manner possible. NO genetic modification, NO hormones, NO pesticides, Minimum of soil nutrient additions and entirely organic, if possible, low impact agricultural, harvesting, handling, preparation for market practices.
I really want to eat good food. I try to buy Organic whenever I can. I do not want chemicals and hormones in my food. I do NOT want genetically modified food either. The only reason GE does that is to stop seed production so the only place to get seeds would be from them. This is corruption.
The world does not want their crummy produce and neither do I.
Please protect our food and food supply.
You would think that by 2010 our food would be wonderful. It is not so thanks to the GEs and ADMs.
Please do not allow the agri-Busness to decide what our food should be made of. I want natural foods, and genetically engineered foods are not, by definition, “natural”. It’s my right to know what I’m eating and to make my own choices. Modified genomes are spreading like a virus. It is the USDA’s responsibility to control it’s spread, else we will be endangering our very food supply if it should happen that the scientists who modify the plant genes encounter some unintended consequences. If you must let them experiment don’t let them play with our food supply without some regulation and oversight. And please don’t take away my choice by letting them infect all our food with their modified-food genetics.
Thanks for the comments! We need our voices to be heard!! Organic agriculture should be the baseline… and the GE companies should be held responsible for the liabilities they’re putting out there for commercial profit.
Organic labeling exists to give people a choice. Genetically modified foods are widely available; people who believe they are safe have plenty of choices. So why would a food manufacturer want to label GMOs “organic”? I can only think of one reason: to deceive the public into thinking GMOs are safe.