Sierra Club
Redwood Chapter Newsletter
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Support GE-Free Sonoma Initiative Suzanne Doyle | |
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In the last election, Mendocino County passed Measure H, which banned the growth of genetically engineered (GE) organisms in the county. It passed in spite of the incredible $696,566 spent opposing it, mostly by corporations which develop genetically modified crops. Now signatures are being gathered to put a similar measure on the ballot in Sonoma County. There is passionate opposition to GE crops from many groups and individuals and there are plenty of environmental scare stories. Pollen from Bt corn has been shown to kill monarch butterflies. Herbicide-resistant crops can cause the evolution of super-weeds, also resistant to herbicides. There are studies that show that cultivated GE crops like beets and sunflowers pass engineered genes on to wild relatives. The speed and irreversibility of some of the changes to our food supply is frightening. More than 75% of the U.S. soybean crop is now genetically engineered. GE strains of crops like corn, which is a promiscuous pollinator, are mixing with non-GE strains so quickly that there may soon be no corn which is GE-free, even in Mexico, corn's geographical place of origin. Foods can look familiar, but after genetic modification they may have different food value, or contain allergens, toxins, or antibiotics. Federal and state biosafety regulations seem to be lagging far behind new inventions and there is no requirement to label GMO-containing foods so that consumers can make their own decisions. The most controversial technology used is called transgenic - where genes from one organism are inserted into another. A less unnatural approach, sometimes called 'genomics', is to tinker with a plant's own genome, or set of genes. Characteristics that the plant already has can be made weaker or stronger using the newest gene-splicing technologies, but only genes from the plant itself are used. Still, traditional breeding methods are far from obsolete. Plant breeders recently came up with a new broccoli which is able to thrive in much hotter, drier conditions than normal. GE technology could have potentially beneficial results as well. In Sonoma County, wine-grape growers have a vital interest in the developing grapevines resistant to Pierce's disease, which is moving north and threatening all of California's wine industry. Researchers at U.C. Davis are attempting to develop vines with such resistance, through both genetic engineering and traditional breeding techniques. The GE-Free Sonoma Initiative includes a provision which would allow the board of supervisors to amend the ordinance by unanimous vote, in case such a new development arises. The GE-Free Sonoma initiative bans growing, selling or distributing genetically modified organisms (GMOs), but does not affect sales of products made with GMOs, or medical or agricultural research that is physically contained. The initiative will be in effect for ten years and can be extended by the Board of Supervisors. At its essence, the GE-foods controversy is not only about whose science is correct and who can be trusted; it is also a question of democracy. Who will control the environment and the food supply - corporations motivated by profit, or our own government, making regulatory decisions based on environmental protection and social benefit? |
GE-Free Sonoma is an emergency measure. It is a rapidly thrown-up barricade to protect the county's agriculture and environment until the federal government finds the political will and technical and legal methods to control the bio-tech crops industry. Please sign the petition and put the initiative on the ballot. The campaign for a GE-Free Sonoma County depends on your actions! WHAT YOU CAN DO:
To get involved or find out more, call 707-823-4410, or visit www.gefreesonoma.org. ******** Chapter Chair Margaret Pennington notes: The Redwood Chapter, and the Sierra Club as a whole, have endorsed the GE-Free Sonoma initiative to prevent agricultural and environmental contamination from genetically engineered organisms in Sonoma County.
The national Sierra Club has a very strong position against the release of GE organisms. It calls for acting in accordance with the Precautionary Principle - or in simpler terms, the "better safe than sorry principle" - meaning that when an activity raises the possibility of serious or irreversible harm to the environment or living creatures, precautionary measures that prevent the possibility of harm shall be taken even if the causal line between the activity and the possible harm has not been proven.
The Sierra Club's GE policy calls for a moratorium on the planting of all genetically engineered crops and the release of all GE organisms into the environment, including those now approved. Releases should be delayed until extensive, rigorous research is done to determine the long-term environmental and health impacts of each GE organism, and until there is public debate to ascertain the need for the use of each GE organism intended for release into the environment.
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