Tell Iowa Congressmen
to Stop GMO Alfalfa
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this year, Monsanto is eager to resume the marketing and sale of their Roundup
Ready™ alfalfa.
Fortunately, the possibility that Monsanto’s Roundup Ready™ alfalfa may be
deregulated by the USDA has caught the attention of two leading members of
Congress: Senator Patrick Leahy and Congressman Peter DeFazio. We are joining
with our partners at Center for Food Safety in encouraging members of Congress
who support regulation of GMO alfalfa to sign their “Dear Colleague” letter,
addressed to Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, asking him to maintain the
ban on GMO alfalfa, protecting farmers, the environment and the organic
industry.
If your legislator has not done so already, they have until the end of today to sign this letter and join their colleagues in asking
Secretary Tom Vilsack to maintain the ban on Monsanto's genetically-modified
(GMO) Roundup Ready™ alfalfa.
This past March we invited you to send in your comments to the USDA asking
them to not permit GMO alfalfa to be grown, jeopardizing the organic industry.
Your response was overwhelming: in a 48-hour period more than 56,000 Food
Democracy Now! members responded telling Secretary Vilsack that you value
organics and the livelihood of farmers over corporate profits. We need
to do it again.
We have today: Can you sign a letter to your congressman telling
them that you want them to tell Secretary Vilsack to stop the approval of GMO
alfalfa?
GMO Alfalfa and Organics
As you may already know, in April of this year, the U.S. Supreme Court heard
arguments regarding the deregulation of Monsanto’s GMO alfalfa. If
the Supreme Court rules in favor of Monsanto, it could spell ruin for the
organic industry. While we’re still waiting for a ruling from the Supreme
Court, this is no time to be passive. If remarks from Supreme Court Justice
Antonin Scalia are any indication, we need to keep fighting. Justice Scalia's
words, regarding contamination of organic alfalfa were: “This isn’t
contamination of the New York City water supply…This is not the end of the
world.”
It may not be the end of the world, but it could spell the end of the
organic dairy industry as well as end the export market of U.S. organic and
natural alfalfa. Studies have shown, that if approved,
contamination of organic alfalfa is certain. Once contaminated, the
organic dairy sector, the cornerstone of organic agriculture, stands to lose
billions of dollars, while thousands of other American farmers will lose a
vital market in Europe and Japan where GMO-free alfalfa is widely sought.
Will you please take a moment to sign a letter to your representative asking them to sign this letter to Secretary Vilsack. And if you really want to take part in food democracy today, take another moment to call their office, showing your strong opposition to GMO alfalfa.
This is essentially the first time that a member of Congress has shown
interest in championing an issue related to anti-GMO. This is a crucial
moment and it’s vital that we make our voices heard to our representatives and
senators. We are counting on you today to sign your name and make the
call.
Several senators and representatives have already signed, along with
numerous non-profit organizations, businesses and companies to send a clear
message to Congress saying “NO” to GMO alfalfa. We need your voice
today – please join us. There may never be a better opportunity.
Thank you for participating in food democracy –
Dave, Lisa and The Food Democracy Now! Team
Blog For Iowa 