NOFA/Massachusetts Social Action CenterGenetic Engineering NewsMay 13, 2007 Federal Judge Orders First-Ever Halt to Planting of a Commercialized Genetically-Altered Crop Judge Charles Breyer, in the Federal Northern District of California, made a final ruling that the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) 2005 approval of Monsanto's genetically engineered (GE) "Roundup Ready" alfalfa was illegal. The Judge called on USDA to ban any further planting of the GE seed until it conducts a complete Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on the GE crop. In the decision, Breyer affirmed his preliminary ruling that the crop could harm the environment and contaminate natural alfalfa. The Judge also ordered USDA to make the locations of all existing Roundup Ready alfalfa plots "publicly available as soon as practicable" so that growers of organic and conventional alfalfa "can test their own crops to determine if there has been contamination." In the decision Judge Breyer found that the USDA failed to address concerns that Roundup Ready alfalfa will contaminate conventional and organic alfalfa. In calling for a permanent injunction, he noted that contamination of natural and organic alfalfa by the GE variety has already occurred, and noted that "Such contamination is irreparable environmental harm. The contamination cannot be undone."
Consumers Flood FDA with over 130,000 Comments Opposing Food from Cloned Animals Recent public opinion polls show the majority of the American public does not want milk or meat from cloned animals in their food. A December 2006 poll by the Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology found that nearly two-thirds of U.S. consumers were uncomfortable with animal cloning. The comments submitted today strongly reinforce this national sentiment. "Food from cloned animals has no place on our supermarket shelves or on our dinner tables," said Andrew Kimbrell, Executive Director of the Center for Food Safety. "FDA needs to heed consumer concerns and ban animal clones in food." In its risk assessment of cloned food, the FDA claims to have evaluated extensive peer reviewed studies on the safety of food from clones to support its conclusion, yet a recent report issued by the Center for Food Safety shows the assessment only references three peer-reviewed food safety studies, all of which focus on the narrow issue of milk from cloned cows. What is even more disturbing is that these studies were partially funded by the same biotech firms that produce clones for profit. None of the studies focus on the safety of meat from cloned cows or pigs, or milk or meat from the offspring of cloned animals, and there was absolutely no data on milk or meat from cloned goats, - all major issues critical to determining the safety of the proposal.
New Biotech Product Could End Up in Feed The letter said the trait has not been approved for export markets but is being sold to growers in Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska and Wisconsin. The association said the trait could end up in exported distillers grains, a byproduct of ethanol production that is fed to livestock. "There is a risk that the shipment would be rejected by the importing customer - permanently damaging the U.S. ethanol industry's relationships with these important markets," association President and CEO Bob Dinneen said in the letter sent Friday. He asked Syngenta executives to "ensure this product stays out of unapproved market channels" by educating customers of marketing issues and removing dry mill ethanol facilities - where distillers grains are produced - from its lists of points of sale for grain containing the trait.
Publix Milk Goes rbST-Free Transgenic Pact Signed by Growers "Our position is that biotechnology must be introduced, while respecting Mexican corn," said CNC president Cruz López. "We´re satisfied that seed companies such as Monsanto are cooperating with the protection of Mexico´s native corn." Cruz said Mexican corn growers have suffered the consequences of being "frozen out" of transgenic corn technology. He called opponents "confused" and "dogmatic." Under the plan, seeds that have been genetically altered will be tested experimentally for yield and safety beginning this year. In phase 2 next year, selected seeds will be put through a growing cycle but will not be sold commercially. If all goes well, commercial corn grown from transgenic seeds will be planted by 2009 at the earliest.
Alabama Site of Eucalyptus Experiment Federal officials have just published an Environmental Assessment of the ArborGen project, which is out for public comment until May 21. ArborGen officials said if they get approval and are successful in creating a eucalyptus that can survive the mild Southeastern winter, they believe the resulting tree would provide a lucrative new crop for Alabama pine farmers who have been hurt by the decline of the U.S. pulp and paper industries. Eucalyptus, according to an ArborGen spokesman, is better than Midwestern corn for producing ethanol, because, he said, the trees require a fraction of the energy to raise and harvest. Corn is a labor-intensive crop that scientists say requires nearly as much energy to grow as it produces in the form of ethanol. By contrast, eucalyptus trees would produce 8 gallons of ethanol for every gallon of gas or diesel used to farm and process them, according to ArborGen. The company is now seeking a permit to allow the trees to mature, flower and produce seeds. All of that was specifically forbidden under the original permit, which granted ArborGen permission to simply grow the trees and test them for cold tolerance. Don Rockwood, a forester working with eucalyptus trees in Flrida, says, "I think the economics are going to be important. But as long as the government is willing to subsidize domestic ethanol production, instead of letting something cheaper come in from Brazil, then it can work. We are already talking about subsidizing corn. Why not eucalyptus trees in the South?" Officials with ArborGen, a South Carolina-based company, declined to reveal the exact location of the modified trees, citing "security reasons." While researching the location of the trees, however, the Press-Register discovered that Baldwin County is home to a number of experimental, genetically modified crops, many of which appear to be growing on a Loxley farm owned by agricultural giant Monsanto Co.
Tribes Seek Limit On Wild Rice Engineering California Genetic Engineering Bill Held Over in Assembly Agriculture Committee New Law Fuels Farmers in Fight Against Canola Crops The reason for the move is that genetically modified canola can cross-pollinate with cabbage, broccoli and similar crops. Until now, seed farmers in Washington have relied on an honor system and informal meetings to decide what buffers are needed between crops. In the Skagit Valley and Columbia Basin, the state's center for seed production, the practice has been a 2-mile buffer between similar seed crops. The seed industry is based on farmers' reputations to deliver genetically exact seeds. Cross-pollination from an acre of canola upwind from a cabbage-seed farm could cause the loss of the two-year growing season, Johnson said. Even if the cross-pollination does not occur, having a genetically modified crop near a seed field can cause worried buyers in Japan and Europe to cancel orders. The Skagit Valley seed industry is worth $20 million and provides half of the world's cabbage seed.
GM Scientists Push GM To Save Careers, Says Biotechnologist 'Golden' Potatoes Could be Engineered To Give Beta-Carotene Boost Syngenta has been highly active in producing transgenic beta-carotene-rich rice, and announced in 2005 a new GM rice, called Syngenta Golden Rice II, that produces up to 23-times more provitamin A nutrients than the original beta-carotene-rich Golden Rice. This gives the rice a maximum carotenoid level of 37 micrograms per gram of rice and a preferential accumulation of beta-carotene. A little research on Google, however, reveals that the beta carotene content of spinach is 30 to 50 mg/100 grams dry weight, which is 30,000 to 50,000 micrograms/100 grams dry weight, which is 300 to 500 micrograms per gram dry weight. In other words, spinach is around 10 times better in terms of beta carotene content. So we seem to have here, again, a high tech solution to the man-made problem of relying on high volume commodity production of monoculture crops.
To Grow or not to Grow Bt Sweet Corn Some risks/costs are obvious, such as increased cost of seed ($36-79/acre), and the potential of hastening resistance to a very useful insecticide (Bt), with a novel mode of action, through constant exposure of the active ingredient to the pest population. You will have to save 3 to 5 sprays per field to make Bt corn cost-effective. Thus it may not be cost effective to use Bt sweet corn for early plantings when pest pressure is low and only a couple of sprays are required. In addition, resistance to Bt has already occurred for other caterpillars, such as the diamondback moth, so it is a safe bet that it will also occur for sweet corn caterpillars. Some of the risks are not immediately obvious. They include risks such as a possible consumer backlash from customers fearful of eating corn with an insecticide in it, possible allergic reactions, secondary pest outbreaks (i.e. sap beetles), and liability and nontarget effects from GM pollen drift. There are also many potential benefits of adopting GM-technology for sweet corn. They include a reduction of time, energy, and expense involved with pest control. Risk associated with applicator/worker insecticide exposure, spray drift, and ground and surface water contamination should be reduced. Also, there should be less soil compaction, less wear and tear on machinery, and reduced use of broad-spectrum insecticides (i.e. Warrior). Such insecticides kill beneficial insects which are spared by Bt (as well as several other selective insecticides), and these natural enemies can help reduce pest problems later in the season on sweet corn and on other nearby crops.
UN Facing a Backlash on Emissions Action Plan The proposals for saving the planet were outlined in a draft version of 'Mitigation of Climate Change' by the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). As well as plans for more nuclear power, genetically modified biofuels and carbon capture and storage, the report sets out a vision of the future that is a mixture of existing policies, such as energy efficiency and renewable energy from wind and wave farms, and more futuristic ideas for hydrogen car fleets and 'intelligent' buildings which can control energy use. In addition, the report makes it clear that both developed countries, including the United States, and developing nations, in particular India and China, will have to play major roles. Tony Juniper, executive director of the environmental group Friends of the Earth, said far more fundamental lifestyle changes were needed than had been considered by the UN group. 'Simply replacing one set of technologies with another set of technologies won't work, especially when there are such big downsides with some of them,' he said. Nuclear reactors are dangerous and land clearance and chemical pesticides and fertilizers used to grow fuel crops can cause huge environmental damage, he added. 'Structural change to the economy, behavior change and culture change - those have to be elements in a world of de-carbonization,' said Juniper.
Netherlands Urged to Track Down Bad Maize EPO Revokes Monsanto Soy Monopoly European Commission to Support Failing GM Crop Sector Landmark Law Bans GMOs In Negros Occidental Leading Cypriot Politician Calls For Total GM Ban Monsanto's GM Soya Comes to Chile Proposed Laws to Release Untested GMOs in Australia India: Government Forced to Disclose Safety Data on Gm Crops GM Foods Must Be Labeled: Malaysia to U.S. Zambia Takes Steps Toward Biosafety Law This page was last modified on January 21, 2008 at 5:17:38 PM. |
