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CALIFORNIANS FOR GE-FREE AGRICULTURE NEWSLETTER No. 22, DECEMBER 2006
IN THIS ISSUE
NEWS:
RESEARCH:
- Turning Food into Fuel: GM Drought Tolerant Soybeans in South Africa
- Alternatives to GE: Marker Assisted Selection
TAKE ACTION:
NEWS
GE Rice Retroactively Approved by USDA
Late on Friday November 24th the USDA declared safe for human consumption the genetically engineered variety of rice (LL601) that had been found contaminating the US rice supply this summer. Bayer Cropscience, the company holding the LL601 patent, applied for deregulation after contamination of the U.S. long-grain rice supply was discovered in August. In approving the rice, the USDA allowed Bayer to take a regulatory shortcut and skip many of the usual safety tests by declaring that the new variety is similar to ones already approved, in this case two varieties of biotech rice that Bayer never commercialized because farmers did not want them in their fields.
As we reported last month, the experimental rice, designed to resist Bayer's Liberty weedkiller, escaped from Bayer's test plots after the company dropped the project in 2001. The resulting contamination, once it became public, prompted countries around the world to block rice imports from the United States, sending rice futures plummeting and farmers into fits. Adam Levitt, an attorney for about 300 farmers suing Bayer, said that the approval does nothing to change that outlook. "Unless the U.S. export countries change their view and begin to regain a sense of confidence in U.S. rice, the U.S. rice farmers are still hurt and this whole ruling is illusory in its effect," Levitt said. "It's not a victory at all, because at the end of the day people are not purchasing U.S. rice and the exports markets are absolutely closed still."
To read a complete Reuters article, go to:
http://www.calgefree.org/news/2006/112506.shtml
Biggest Russian Food and Feed Importers Adopt GE Free Policy
Sodruzhestvo, the biggest soy importer in Russia, which supplies 70% of all soy used in the Russian food and feed industry, has stated that it will turn its new factory currently under construction in Kaliningrad into a GE free zone. The new oil-extraction and feed-processing plant will not only produce GE free soy oils and feeds, but also GE free maize and GE free oilseed rape products.
Following the move by Sodruzhestvo the feed producer Rybflotprom, which controls 7% of the Russian feed market and is 80% owned by the French company Provimi, also announced it has adopted a GE free policy for all its products. Both companies will soon start importing GE free soya from Brazil instead of GE soy from Argentina and the US.
For more information, go to:
http://www.calgefree.org/news/2006/112406.shtml
RESEARCH AND INFORMATION
New Report: Turning Food into Fuel: GM Drought Tolerant Soybeans in South Africa
The use of GE crops to produce biofuels is being touted as a boon for alternative energy as well as a new economic development pathway for poor regions. A new report from the African Centre for Biosafety challenges this assumption, looking at the pros and cons of using GE soybeans to produce bio-fuels in Africa. The study concludes that ultimately, biofuels are not a green option because of the net and fixed costs of production as well as the opportunity cost of using arable lands for fuel instead of food.
To read the full report, go to:
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7321
Alternatives to GE: Market Assisted Selection
Scientists are experimenting with a new technique that speeds up natural breeding by selecting which plants to cross using genetic information, rather than simply choosing them by their attributes, as farmers have done throughout the history of agriculture. This new Marker Assisted Selection (MAS) has already been used to create wheat that has a higher nutritional content by crossing it with a wild variety that has higher levels of protein, iron and zinc. GM Watch reports that while much hyped GM crops like Golden Rice are still years away from going into farmers' fields, this biofortified wheat joins a growing list of non-GM successes, some of which are already being tried out by farmers.
For the complete article on MAS wheat go to:
http://www.calgefree.org/news/2006/112406a.shtml
For other stories about MAS successes go to:
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=7326
TAKE ACTION
National Call-in Day! Ask Starbucks to Hold the Hormones
On Tuesday, December 5th, tell Starbucks to buy better milk! Let Starbucks know how you feel about its continued use of milk produced with artificial GE growth hormones. Call Starbucks at: 1 (800) 235-2883 Mon – Fri 5 AM – 6 PM (PST) If the line is busy, try again later or email info@starbucks.com. It should take just a few minutes of your time to let Starbucks know that its decision to use rBGH milk is bad for cows and may be bad for people. By making the call, you let Starbucks know that it’s also bad for business.
Why? Injecting cows with artificial growth hormone harms cows and may harm people. Cows “treated” with this hormone get more infections, which leads to more antibiotic use. Overuse of antibiotics in animal production creates antibiotic resistant bacteria, a serious threat to treating people. Additionally, there is a potential link between rBGH and higher risk of breast, prostate, and colon cancer. Find out more at www.holdthehormones.org Starbucks is the industry leader in coffee specialty retail, and it promotes itself as a socially responsible corporation. In fact, Starbucks buys 2% of the entire world's coffee beans, and thus has a huge impact on the market. If Starbucks stops using milk made with artificial hormones, it will greatly impact the dairy industry, and send a strong message about public opposition to this harmful product. Tell Starbucks to buy better milk!
For more info contact: Audrey Hill at ahill (at) fwwatch (dot) org, ph. 202-797-6555
www.foodandwaterwatch.org
Help Build the California GE-Free Network
As one of the largest agricultural economies in the world, California has the opportunity to become a leader in safeguarding our public and private lands, fisheries, forests, schools, gardens, and nurseries, from GE contamination. If GE is an issue that you are concerned about and you want to get involved in local action:
- If you are not already a member, sign-on to the Cal GE-Free list serve www.calgefree.org to receive this newsletter and action alerts.
- Consider a donation to Californians for GE-Free Agriculture.
To make make a tax-deductible donation, send a check payable to Cal GE-Free at: 15290 Coleman Valley Rd., Occidental, CA 95465