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CALIFORNIANS FOR GE-FREE AGRICULTURE NEWSLETTER No. 23, JANUARY 2007
Cal GE-Free Joins Newly formed Genetic Engineering Policy Alliance!
Cal GE-Free is proud to announce that it has joined a new statewide network, the Genetic Engineering Policy Alliance, which promotes precautionary state policies on genetic engineering in agriculture. The GE Policy Alliance is currently more than 50 members strong, and includes groups from the environmental, sustainable agriculture, faith, health and business sectors. The groups have come together in support of a Policy Platform which educates on the need for state policies that will: work to protect farmers from economic loss due to unwanted contamination from genetically engineered crops; promote the public’s right-to-know about the presence of genetically engineered crops in our food and agriculture; and safeguard the environment and public health from damage due to exposure to genetically engineered crops and food.
We encourage you to check out this new and exciting initiative at: www.gepolicyalliance.org
IN THIS ISSUE
NEWS:
- Syngenta Fined $1.5 Million for Contamination Incident
- Andean Region Declared Free from GE Potatoes!
RESEARCH:
TAKE ACTION:
- Grow the GE Policy Alliance Membership!
- Tell FDA: No Food From Cloned Animals!
- Help build the California GE-Free Network
NEWS
Andean Region Free of GE Potatoes
The Andean Parliament passed a resolution to declare the countries which are part of the Andean Community (Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia), free of genetically engineered potatoes. The Andean region is the centre of origin of the potatoes and the crop plays an important role in the social web of the Andean societies.
For more information (in Spanish) see: www.parlamentoandino.org
Syngenta Fined $1.5 For Contamination Incident
In a follow-up to the rice contamination story that we reported in the fall, the Minneapolis Morning Star reported in late December that Syngenta Seeds Inc. has been fined $1.5 million in connection with mistakenly distributing genetically engineered seed corn not approved by the U.S. government.
"Human error," Syngenta spokeswoman Anne Burt said.
The company launched an investigation in cooperation with the EPA, and found 1,044 incidents involving distributions to dealers in 21 states and two foreign countries.
For the full story see: http://www.calgefree.org/news/122206.shtml
RESEARCH AND INFORMATION
Who Benefits from GE Crops? FOE Report
A new report released on January 9th shows that as of the end of 2006, genetically engineered (GE) crops have failed to address the main challenges facing farmers in most countries of the world, and more than 70 percent of large scale GE planting is still limited to two countries (U.S. and Argentina).
The new report from Friends of the Earth entitled 'Who Benefits from GM crops? An analysis of the global performance of GE crops 1996-2006' also notes that the 'second generation' GE farm crops with attractive 'traits' long promised by the industry has failed to appear.
"No GM crop on the market today offers benefits to the consumer in terms of quality or price, and to date these crops have done nothing to alleviate hunger or poverty in Africa or elsewhere," said Nnimmo Bassey of Friends of the Earth Africa in Nigeria.
The Friends of the Earth International report launch coincides with the annual release of the 'Global Status of Commercialized Biotech' report of the industry-sponsored International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) - which promotes GE crops as a key solution to hunger and poverty. The GM crops industry continues to misleadingly claim that GE crops play a role in solving world hunger.
To read the full report, go to:
http://www.foei.org/publications/pdfs/gmcrops2007execsummary.pdf
TAKE ACTION
Grow the Membership of the GE Policy Alliance!
The GE Policy Alliance is seeking new organizational membership representing diverse constituencies around California. If you are connected with an organization or business in your local area that would be supportive of the GE Policy Alliance Platform (download here), approach them to sign-on, and then fax the completed form to the GE Policy Alliance!
For more information on the GE Policy Alliance, visit their website at: www.gepolicyalliance.org or contact Ryan Rich (ryan@gepolicyalliance.org) or Tracy Lerman (tracy@gepolicyalliance.org).
Tell FDA: No Food From Cloned Animals!
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has completed its review of food from animal clones and FDA regulators say that the agency will likely approve the sale of cloned foods this year. FDA’s action flies in the face of widespread scientific concern about the risks of food from clones, and ignores the animal cruelty and troubling ethical concerns that the cloning process bring. What's worse, FDA indicates that it will not require labeling on cloned food, so consumers will have no way to avoid these experimental foods. FDA needs to hear that you don't want food from animal clones - a public comment period is open until April 2!
Send your comment to FDA TODAY at: http://ga3.org/campaign/Cloning
For a news article on cloning go to: http://www.calgefree.org/news/122806.shtml
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