SAY NO TO GENETIC ENGINEERING

Genetic engineering of crops poses risks to the environment and humans alike. There is a danger of releasing uncontrollable genetically modified organisms (GMO) into the environment. Once the GMO is unleashed in the field, there is no way to bring it back. These organisms can breed with natural organisms by transgenic transfer and change the natural world forever.

Citizens Have a Right to Know What Foods Have Been Genetically Modified

Keeping the public in the dark, around the world, has allowed large agribusiness to dictate how foods are produced and what foods are put on humanity's table. For the fist time in history, biotechnology requires that people defend the natural world to insure that plants remain diverse and healthy, and that food remains organic and wholesome. GMO crops, animals, and fish are not natural. For example, putting human genes in pigs, fish genes in tomatoes, and pesticides in corn makes these life forms change into something that was never intended to happen in nature.

People have the right to know if their country, state, or grocery story is protecting them from genetically engineered materials in their food. Field crops, some meat and fish, fresh produce, and shelf life foods are now contaminated with GMO materials. There have been insufficient studies done to guarantee the safety of GMO crops.

The natural world wasn't created for multinational biotechnology companies to harness the dignity of plants, animals, and fish and make them into something else. These life forms are not intended to be a commodity that can be manipulated for the marketplace. Plants, animals, and fish are a sustainable gift that honors and supports human life. We oppose all patents on plants, animals, and fish. We stand behind our commitment to oppose the patenting of their genes. Man can not exist without the natural world of diverse animals, plants, and fish. And the biodiversity of each insures the continuation of life forms that will provide for humanity. We need to protect our natural heritage so that future generations can know and live within the natural world.

States Fight Back

State by state, people are fighting back on the local level. California is leading the USA in demanding that no genetic modified crops be grown. Mendocino was the first county-level government in the nation to ban GMO crops and livestock. The ban was passed in March 2004. Other CA counties successfully followed including Marin and Trinity. The vote was mostly symbolic because few crops are grown in these counties. Sonoma county, on the other hand, a large agricultural county of grape growers tried unsuccessfully to pass a ban in 2005. So far the grapes are free of GMO. The New York State Assembly has recently introduced three bills, related to labeling genetically modified seed, and placing liability on biotechnology companies when GMO crops contaminate non-GMO crops. It is important that states have a right to choose not to grow GMO foods because there is now a threat of Deregulation of Food Safety Laws.

A bill was passed, in the United States House of Representatives, that would abolish many food safety laws. Bill H. R. 4167, The National Food Uniformity Act of 2005, accomplishes this by taking away the power of states to regulate food safety. Many food safety issues are not covered by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and if the FDA has not passed a regulation on a food threat, the state regulation on the threat would be voided. The bill is opposed by the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, the National Conference of State Legislators, and the Association of State Departments of Agriculture. There is mounting opposition by state officials, and the bill is expected to face challenges in the Senate.

GMO crops will continue to plague the food chain unless states refuse to grow GMO crops and stop feeding GMO feed to animals. For this reason and in order to support local governments and citizens to protect public health and the food supply, we are concerned about this industry-supported bill.