I just received this urgent alert from Food & Water Watch:
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is about to approve Monsanto’s genetically engineered (GE) alfalfa, despite the fact that it’s likely to contaminate other crops, including organic alfalfa. Organic dairies need organic alfalfa as feed for their cows, and organic standards don’t allow the use of GE crops. Contamination of organic crops from GE crops can destroy markets for organic farmers.
The danger of cross-contamination is even higher with alfalfa than with other GM crops, which is why this is such a serious issue. Here’s more on the issue from the Food & Water Watch alert:
The USDA tried to approve GE alfalfa before and the decision was challenged all the way up to the Supreme Court, which made the agency re-assess the environmental impact GE alfalfa could have on the environment. Now USDA has rushed through this process because big agribusiness wants to be allowed to plant GE alfalfa this spring.
Stop GM Alfalfa
Want to get heard? Food & Water Watch is asking folks to send a letter to President Obama and Secretary of Agriculture Vilsack asking them to stand up against Monsanto’s GM alfalfa.
More On Monsanto’s Alfalfa
GE Alfalfa Draft EIS Threatens Organic Integrity
Supreme Court Approves Monsanto’s GM Alfalfa – What’s Next?
GE Alfalfa: Food and Water Watch
Image Credit: Creative Commons photo via tea_time
Toni Reita ND
If anyone is using soy for sustainability or environmental reasons, they have made the wrong choice. There is nothing more environmentally destructive than Soybean plantations. The world wide figures for soybean plantings keep rising, are spoken of in the millions of acres and are truly unfathomable.
The US, Brazil and Argentina count for 80% of the world wide soybean production. Brazil has taken the lead over the US since about 2004. 80% of the global soybean crop is used for animal feed, remember it’s the meal left over after the oil has been extracted. South America ships 60% of it’s GMO soy to Europe for animals that Europeans will eat, including all of the pesticides in the soy.
US Soy Production
Soybeans 78.1 million acres, with 12.5 million just for Soy Bio Diesel. 95% of all soy is GMO.
Corn 88.8 million acres of which about 90% is GMO
wheat 53.83 million acres, The USDA is considering GMO wheat
Can you begin to imagine the multiple, toxic pesticides associated with the GMO and what those millions of acres could be planted in instead?
Here are but a few examples of what 1 acre produces:
corn 18 gallons of oil~ GMO
cottonseed 35 gallons oil ~ GMO
soybean 48 gallons oil~ GMO
Hemp seed 300 gallons + 6,000 lbs high protein flour & no pesticides required for hemp
Palm 635 gallons
Music garlic 13,400 + lbs
Monsanto with the complicity of our friends at the USDA are going after major crops, Alfalfa, Wheat, Cacao. They must be labeled or stopped.
Toni
http://www.natural-health-home-remedies.com/soy.html
Joe Mohr
The letter also goes to Tom Vilsack–Sec of Ag (former Monsanto head!!!) :(
Becky Striepe
Ugh, yeah. :( Is it crazy to hope he’d be more into listening to what the people want than helping out his former employer?
Joe Mohr
i think Monsanto holds more sway than ‘the people’ to former monsanto employees…hope i’m wrong.
Becky Striepe
I hope you’re wrong, too, but suspect you’re probably right. :/
Anita
Please don’t contaminate our fields (foods) with alfalfa.