A U.S. Department of Agriculture committee dominated by representatives from
the biotechnology industry, seed companies, and academia has decided to make an
official recommendation to the public agency that organic farmers be forced to
bear financially responsible for the genetic contamination of their own organic
crops by genetically-modified crops.
The USDA Advisory Committee on
Biotechnology & 21st Century Agriculture, also known as AC21, is largely of
the persuasion that agricultural coexistence means organic farmers should have
to foot the bill when their fields are destroyed by unintentional GMO drift.
According to an advisory report recently issued by the committee, this means
requiring that organic farmers purchase their own www.canadagoosesale.nl
insurance to pay for potential damages
resulting from transgenic contamination.
"Of particular concern in
the report is the recommendation that organic and non-GE conventional farmers
pay to self-insure themselves against unwanted GE contamination," said a
recent statement issued by the National Organic Coalition . "This proposal
allows USDA and the agricultural biotechnology industry to abdicate
responsibility for preventing GE contamination while making the victims of GE
pollution pay for damages resulting from transgenic contamination."
Organic and conventional
farmers have long had to deal with the threat of transgenic contamination from
nearby GM crop fields, the pollen of which occasionally drifts or is carried by
bees into organic crop fields. In the past, violated farmers have had to
basically suck up their resultant losses, or even face litigation from the
company whose seed materials trespassed onto their properties.
Real coexistence between GMOs,
organic crops is Canada
Goose Vest Vrouwen />The contamination issue has become so
problematic in recent years that a number of industry groups have tried to
pursue so-called coexistence measures that, in some sort of alternate universe,
would allow GMOs, conventional crops, and organic crops to peacefully coexist
in harmony with one another. But as anyone with any knowledge of GM crops
already knows, it is virtually impossible to contain GMOs and prevent their
eventual spread.
With this in mind, AC21 seems
fully aware of the fact that GMO spread and contamination is inevitable. Its
solution to the problem; however, is not to restrain GMOs in any way, but
rather to set them free and leave it to organic farmers to clean up the mess.
And this, of course, is the apparent position of the federal government as
well, which continues to unleash new and unnecessary GMOs like Monsanto's GM
alfalfa into the wild without any concern for the irreversible damage this will
cause.