GMO Awareness and Action

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Comment by Heather K on May 17, 2011 at 2:47pm

Tonight, a few of us will meet to share seeds, news, visions, and collective intelligence.

 

Local seed-savers are encouraged to also connect with our transition network of “Seed-Savers-Preserving Our Ecological Heritage”- http://transitionwhatcom.ning.com/group/seedsavers

Comment by Heather K on April 15, 2011 at 12:56pm

"Seed Sovereignty: A way to Food Security, Cultural Preservation and Environmental Stewardship"

http://transitionwhatcom.ning.com/xn/detail/2723460:Event:48206?xg_source=activity

Local event at WWU on Monday April 18!  Share with your network!

Comment by Heather K on April 13, 2011 at 5:48pm

Film: “THE WORLD ACCORDING TO MONTSANTO” - Transition Ferndale Movie Night- Tues April 26^th -http://transitionwhatcom.ning.com/events/transition-ferndale-movie-8

Lets reclaim our rights to grow our own food locally from seeds our farmers save!

Comment by Brian Kerkvliet on March 25, 2011 at 11:52am

Lets pass a GMO labeling law here in Whatcom County!

Comment by Brian Kerkvliet on March 25, 2011 at 11:51am

Comment by Brian Kerkvliet on February 8, 2011 at 11:47am

Unbelievably, over the past 12 days the Obama administration has approved not one, but two of Monsanto's Round Up Ready genetically modified (GMO) crops. On Thursday January 27th, the USDA made the decision, under the directive of the White House, to fully deregulate Roundup Ready alfalfa, followed by the partial deregulation of Roundup Ready sugar beets this past Friday, opening the door for the planting of both of these GMO crops this spring.¹

Together, these decisions send a clear signal that the Obama administration has abandoned all objectivity and scientific scrutiny when it comes to regulating biotech crops and has adopted a policy of rapid approval in order to overcome growing public outrage and concern about the harmful effects that Monsanto’s monopoly power has on family farmers, American citizens, our common environment and our democracy.

We need to continue to stand up to this influence in the halls of power of the United States. If you haven't signed this letter telling Obama to rescind the decision for deregulation of GMO crops, now is the time. Tell President Obama it’s time to put family farmers, our food security and America’s citizens over Monsanto’s bottom line.

http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/338?akid=296.16993.bWpVvp&...

Comment by Heather K on February 4, 2011 at 4:55pm

Organic Seed Alliance to challenge USDA’s approval of

Genetically Engineered Sugar Beets: article at-http://blog.seedalliance.org/2011/02/04/osa-to-challenge-usda’s-app...

Comment by Heather K on February 2, 2011 at 5:51pm

Anyone have news to share on GMO-alfalpha seeds being created or shipped to Whatcom County? 

Comment by Heather K on December 31, 2010 at 1:17pm

" The Year in Food- Farm laws & spilled secrets"   By Ari LeVaux - Good article in Cascadia Weekly

http://www.cascadiaweekly.com/cw?/content/articles/farm_laws_and_sp...

Lets see if we can bring the topic up for those who will be attending the Mt. Baker Beekeepers meeting...(posted under our Events page:

http://transitionwhatcom.ning.com/events/mt-baker-beekeepers-meetin...

quote: " .... my pick for the sleeper story of the year was broken by a Colorado beekeeper named Tom Theobald. Concerned about annual losses in his colonies that had grown to 40 percent, he began to suspect an agricultural chemical called clothianidin that is used in area cornfields. The Bayer-patented neurotoxin has been used in seed coatings since 2003, though Bayer’s permission to market it was granted conditionally, dependent on the submission of evidence that it was safe for bees....

Theobald tracked down a lengthy correspondence between Bayer and the EPA in which Bayer repeatedly stalled and EPA granted numerous extensions until Bayer finally conducted a study. That study was never released, and lay buried for years until Theobald, just trying to figure out what happened to his bees, finally found it online.

The study, done in Canada, was conducted so poorly that the results could not be considered conclusive, or even indicative, that clothianidin used on corn is safe for local bees.

Theobald wrote about this saga in Bee Culture in July of this year, and soon afterward received a phone call from the EPA saying his article had led to an internal investigation.

That inquiry resulted in a Nov. 2 memo in which the EPA acknowledged the tragedy of errors that led to the continued permitted use of clothianidin, and acknowledges that scientists inside the EPA expressed bee-related concerns as early as 2003, partly because a similar pesticide had recently caused bee die-offs in Europe.

Bees help pollinate about a third of the food grown in the United States. Theobald says he’s hardly the only beekeeper on the verge of having to fold the tent, because you can’t sustain that kind of colony loss for too long.

Perhaps the beekeepers and their allies could use a few pages from the playbook of the Center for Food Safety, which has used the National Environmental Policy Act to stop the planting of genetically modified crops in places where they endanger the local environment, and the livelihoods that depend on it.

In one case, Monsanto appealed its way to the Supreme Court, each time losing to the argument that selling genetically modified alfalfa before the completion of an environmental impact study would endanger the rights of farmers to grow non-genetically modified alfalfa. In June, the Supreme Court demanded more USDA oversight, and the completion of an Environmental Impact Study, before allowing the crop to be commercialized.

Then, in December, a federal judge took some sweetness out of Monsanto’s sugar beet division by ordering that 258 very important acres of genetically modified sugar beets be destroyed. These sugar beets were intended to pollinate and produce seeds for the 2012 sugar beet season.

Currently, 95 percent of the nation’s sugar beets are grown from Monsanto’s Roundup Ready seeds. The seeds are popular because they save farmers the expense and hassle of spraying chemicals on the crop, since the plants manufacture herbicides internally.

Monsanto produces its sugar beet seeds on several properties in Oregon’s Willamette valley. This happens to be the worst place in the entire country for that crop, because the risk of gene contamination there is so great.

Beet seeds are wind-pollinated, and the Willamette Valley is where most of the nation’s table beet seeds are grown, as well as most of the chard seeds. Both chard and table beets can crossbreed with sugar beets. Judge Jeffrey White ruled that Monsanto was endangering neighboring, non-genetically modified seed industries by letting its genetically modified beets go to seed in the valley"   enquote

Comment by Megan Westgate on October 22, 2010 at 9:51am

Hi folks--wanted to let you know that the Non-GMO Project is currently seeking a part-time Program Assistant. If you know anyone who might be interested, please spread the word! Details are at http://tinyurl.com/2cvea5f

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