LA Weekly

There wasn't much enviro-related stuff happening in the election last night, except for up in Sonoma County, where Measure M, which would have instituted a 10-year moratorium on genetically engineered crops, was done in by a well-funded fear campaign sponsored by big agricultural interests (it went down 56 to 44). The intiative's authors and organizers, GE Free Sonoma, claim victory in educating the public about the dangers of GE food, and there may be hope for some sort of legislative move. Measure M had support from a diverse set of interests, including the Sierra Club, California Certified Organic Farmers, and the Small Boat Commercial Salmon Fishermen's Association.

Mendocino County has already banned GE crops, and the prevalence of genetically modified organisms could have disastrous effects on the region's organic farmers, whose crops are increasingly becoming polluted by wind-borne pollen from GMO-infected crops. . This Wall Street Journal story (free this week!) says it all:

Craig Wedig, a Cuba City, Wis., farmer, blames contaminated seed for the GM crops that appeared on his organic cornfield in 2001. Mr. Wedig, 28 years old, had a contract to sell his crop to a mill making organic corn syrup for export. When the mill detected GMOs in the third and fourth truckload from his farm, he had to sell the corn for less money to a company making livestock feed.

The GMO discovery cost Mr. Wedig $2,250. . . . "My advice to the organic farmers in Europe is to make sure that any GMO drift becomes the legal responsibility of the GM farmer," says Mr. Wedig. "Here, I'm responsible for my neighbor's pollen, and that's not fair."

--------

Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)