So last week I went there. You know, the whole "taboo" topic of religion. This week I'm going there again, but this time with politics. Don't worry; it won't be scary!
Did you see Food, Inc.? Do you remember the part where they talked about the consequences of genetically engineered soy beans? Well, now the USDA is working to deregulate the use of Monsanto's Genetically Engineered (GE) Alfalfa Seeds.
If you haven't seen Food Inc. or received emails recently from places like True Food or Organic Valley, you may be wondering what the big deal is. Read on; I will get to that shortly.
Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont, and Representative Peter DeFazio of Oregon, have introduced a letter to the Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, asking that he not allow the deregulation of GE Alfalfa seeds. Now they are trying to get the support of other Senators and Representatives through their signature on the letter. That's where you come in. Do your congressmen and congresswomen know that you care about this? If not, they may not have a great incentive to sign on this. I talked with my sister about this (she's a political science major) and asked her if it really makes a difference to write in to your representatives. She said YES. While the representative may not read your individual letter, the stance you take will be brought to his/her attention. When such a letter is received in the congressional office, it is counted as representing 10,000 people. So if you write in asking your congress(wo)man to sing on to this letter, your request will be considered the request of 10,00! (or so my poli-sci sister says :)
So why should you care?
(All info taken from the letter written to Secretary Vilsack and this National Organic Coalition GE Background Document)
Environmental
- GE seeds contaminate other fields. This has already happened with soy beans and rice, and it happened during the two years that the GE alfalfa seed were in use. Fields as far as 1.5 miles from the original field were contaminated, and bees can cross-polinate at greater distance! Conventional and organic fields are both affected by contamination see Econmic impact below.
- The seeds are engineered to be "Roundup Ready" (resistant to Roundup, a commonly used pesticide/herbicide). The problem is that it not only encourages the use of this pesticide (when many Alfalfa producers don't use it regularly), but it has also causes Roundup resistant weeds to grow. These weeds require more potent chemicals to be used to kill them.
Economic
- Organic farmers will see a heavy economic impact through field contamination. The USDA Organic label means that there are no GE products used, and that includes dairy cow feed. Alfalfa is one of the main sources of feed for dairy cows, so cows that are fed contaminated alfalfa cannot produce "organic" milk. The organic dairy industry saw $1.4 billion in sales in 2008 alone. The estimated impact on organic dairy producers from the deregulation of GE alfalfa seeds is $225 million annually.
- Many countries have banned or placed very tight trade restrictions on exports of genetically engineered products. This includes some of the main importers of alfalfa such as Japan, Korea, and Saudi Arabia. This could amount to an annual loss of $197 million for alfalfa producers.
- There are many other reasons to care, but I told you this would not be a scary post (in the sense of politics...). I'm happy to discuss this with you or point you to more resources if you're interested. Just email me at kelly[at]questforrealfood[dot]com or leave me a comment with a way I can get back to you.
Is it all coming together for you now? I would encourage you to read the letter to Secretary Vilsack and if you agree with it, ask your congress(wo)man to sign. Make a phone call, write an email, or send a letter to your representatives. This not only has the effect of getting more support behind this letter, but it also lets them know that, we do care about this and other matters of this nature.
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