Genetically modified alfalfa gets green light

Fri Jan 28, 2011 9:46 pm » by **Fairymama**

Great, who knows what effect this will have on our fragile bee population. Article posted from New Scientist.

Genetically modified crops can breathe a sigh of relief, after the US Department of Agriculture decided that farmers could plant GM alfalfa without restrictions.

The deliberations began in June last year, when the US Supreme Court found that a 2007 ban on selling Monsanto's Roundup Ready alfalfa - which is resistant to herbicides - was unjustified. However, the Supreme Court had left the final decision to the USDA.

Yesterday, agriculture secretary Tom Vilsack said: "After conducting a thorough and transparent examination of alfalfa through a multi-alternative environmental impact statement (EIS) and several public comment opportunities, APHIS has determined that Roundup Ready alfalfa is as safe as traditionally bred alfalfa." APHIS refers to the USDA's Animal Plant Health Inspection Service.

Farmer associations like the Illinois Farm Bureau and the American Soybean Association supported the decision. They had feared a decision to regulate alfalfa would set a precedent that could hinder engineered crops in the US. "Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack's decision is based on sound science and two decades of regulatory precedent," said Jim Greenwood, CEO of Biotechnology Industry Organization.

At the other end of the spectrum, the organic industry expressed its discontent. "This is very disappointing," Will Fantle, co-director of the Wisconsin-based Cornucopia Institute, told The Atlantic. "Tens of thousands of people spoke out against this contamination. They were completely ignored. It looks like the biotech industry has all the political power."

Don't expect these two sides of the debate to come to agreement anytime soon.

Fri Jan 28, 2011 9:59 pm » by **Fairymama**

What happens when the alph-alpha is carried by the wind and cross pollinates with wild plants? What are we doing to our planet? This is not a giant test tube you can conduct experiments on, we share this planet with one another. Why do a handful of men control our fate? Who mad them God?

Fri Jan 28, 2011 10:09 pm » by **Drjones**

fairymama wrote:What happens when the alph-alpha is carried by the wind and cross pollinates with wild plants? What are we doing to our planet? This is not a giant test tube you can conduct experiments on, we share this planet with one another. Why do a handful of men control our fate? Who mad them God?

Believe me i share your frustration my friend. Thanks for the article.
What is happening is that 'satan' is establishing his counterfeit kingdom, so everything that is natural and thus from god and good for us, is to be replaced with inferior and dangerous equivalents. I'm not religious in any way only spiritual but i don't think anyone can say that that logic is false.