call to action

I just received an email from Organic Valley (my choice of organic milk and cheeses) informing me of the USDA's plan to approve Genetically Engineered Roundup resistant Alphalfa!

Here's some of the letter:

You may not think about alfalfa much when you're drinking organic milk, but organic alfalfa is important to organic farming, as a nourishing animal feed that's also a nitrogen-fixing soil enhancer. Once GE alfalfa is introduced, its contamination of non-GE plants - including organic - is all but inevitable. And because alfalfa is fed to dairy cows and other livestock, contamination puts organic dairy and meat at risk, too!

In their EIS, the USDA states "There is no evidence that consumers care about GE contamination of organic alfalfa." We know that you do care. Let's not be Monsanto's guinea pigs!

Now is your chance to be heard. Tell the USDA to protect organic food and farmers from GE contamination, and NOT TO APPROVE Monsanto's GE Alfalfa. Comments are due by February 16, 2010.

You CAN make a difference. Tell the USDA that you care about GE contamination and your right to GMO-free organic foods.

Learn more and get talking points on our website. Then take action at the Center for Food Safety, or submit comments online to the USDA directly.

After you write, let us know at rootstock@organicvalley.coop. We'll post some comments on our website to inspire others to speak out.

If you don't remember me writing about Monsanto and the horrible results of GMO seeds that they manufacture-- putting farmers out of business because their own seeds got contaminated with Monsanto's Roundup Resistant seed which is patented. They sue you if they find their seed in your field! Not to mention the bad things GMO's will do to us and to our environment. They are trying to control the world's food sources and wiping out the vast variety of seeds that exist naturally. This is WRONG and we all need to speak up as a society to put a stop to the greed that companies like this consistently pursue.

I wrote to the USDA directly. I just copied the talking points from Organic Valley's article. It took all of 2 minutes. I think that's barely any time to help make a change for all of us!!!

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From True Food Network: The Center for Food Safety

posted January 15, 2010

Monsanto Takes Center for Food Safety Legal Victory to Highest Court

Today, the U.S. Supreme Court decided to hear a first-time case about the risks of genetically engineered crops. Named Monsanto v. Geertson Seed Farms, No. 09-475, the case before the high court will be yet another step in an ongoing battle waged by the Center for Food Safety to protect consumers and the environment from potentially harmful effects of genetically engineered (GE) crops.

The modified alfalfa seed at the heart of the dispute has been engineered to be immune to Monsanto’s flagship herbicide Roundup. Monsanto intervened in a 2007 federal district court ruling that the Department of Agriculture’s approval of GE alfalfa was illegal. The Center for Food Safety (CFS) filed a 2006 lawsuit on behalf of a coalition of non-profits and farmers who wished to retain the choice to plant non-GE alfalfa. CFS was victorious in this case – in addition CFS has won two appeals by Monsanto in the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit: in 2008 and again in 2009. Now, upon Monsanto’s insistence, the Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case.

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