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Lucy - yes your point about biennials is correct as
far as it goes - the problem is that the seed of those biennial beets has to be
produced somewhere and that is the place where the contamination is going to
happen. Oregon - lots of table beets and swiss chard seed is grown there -
some of it is certified organic seed - now, all of a sudden, hundreds of acres
of GMO sugar beets are to be grown there - for seed - throwing abundant
quantities of GMO pollen out there. Too bad Monsanto could not make their
round up ready beet by putting the engineered gene package into only the female
line (I think all this is hybrid production using male sterile female lines) so
the pollen could be tollerable but they were not thinking about the other
people were they?
Be well and thanks for your interest in this
situation.
Woody
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Saturday, February 23, 2008 4:49
AM
Subject: Re: [Seed Keepers] [seedkeepers]
GMO pollen and what to know...
i know about the Monsanto vs Schmieser case. But canola is an
ANNUAL crop that makes flowers/pollen/seed/ the same year it is planted. beets
are BIENNIAL which means they have to be over wintered in order to make
flowers/pollen/seed the following year after they have been planted.
My point is the GMO beets grown for the suugar trade will be harvested
long before they go to seed.make pollen. Thus should not be a problem for
anyone growing out beets or chard for seed. And if this becomes a problem
Isolate the flowering beets with hoop houses (this is what I do with my chard
I save for seed)
Thus the argument that GMO beets are bad because they will cropss
pollinate is not a good argument and we can come up with much better ones. I
have been in the anti-GMO fight a long time (15+ years) and one thing I have
learned is if you come up with a bad arguement that the Biotech shills can
poke holes in they will and they will turn the argument back on you quickly
and with devistating effects. they are good at what they do. So choose your
arguements and examples carefully. beet pollen can be shot down too easily (I
just did it using the fact beets are beiennial and that a food crop will be
100% harvested the 1st year so no pollen to contaminate non GMO beets the
second. this is basic plant sex people, don't get blinded by your rage)
On Feb 22, 2008, at 5:13 PM, mayo.eh wrote:
You might
want to read about Percy Schmeiser, a Canadian grower sued by Monsanto
because their GMO pollen contaminated and ruined his crop!
http://www.percyschmeiser.com/
The website above explains the reason for, and the
beginning of, the lawsuit. The movie by Deb Garcia “The Future of
Food” brings the story up to date, explaining how Percy lost (not only the
lawsuit but his life savings) and Monsanto won this ridiculous suit.
There are interviews with other farmers as they experience the
problem themselves and show their anger at first, then do an about-face
after Monsanto gets to them. It’s definitely worth watching.
http://www.thefutureoffood.com/
Greenly,
Mayo
By the way, it’s great to have
this up and going with seed and plant questions. Thank you,
Lawrence.
Because when I grow beet or sweet chard seed organically to
supply organic farmers and gardeners, some of the GMO pollen will get into
the female flowers of my organic beets or chard and then my organic seed
will be contaminated. Then someone tests the seed and finds GMO and
then it would no longer be organic nor pure and I would have my crop
rejected. I did not ask for the pollen to come and contaminate my
table beet seed or swiss chard seed - it is trespassing on my place - but
I (or other organic seed grower) would be the loser - the victem.
Don' t think that is worth caring about?
----- Original Message -----
From: lucy Owsley <mailto:boulderbelt@voyager.net>
To: seedkeepers <mailto:seedkeepers@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Friday, February 22, 2008 1:28
PM
Subject: Re: [seedkeepers] Thanks to Lawrence
I am
unhappy about GMO sugar beets but why is everyone paranoid about GMO
Beet pollen flying around. Beets are biennial and so will be harvested
long before they go to flower so should not be a threat in this way.
If we are going to fight this do not give bad reasons for
banning these seeds/plants because this just gives the genejockys fuel
to keep on going with this.
On Feb 22, 2008, at 3:50 PM,
Woody wrote:
Did you know that the few
companies that control sugar beet production (and
beet sugar
production) in the USA are quietly switching over to ROUNDUP
READY
sugar beets with MONSANTO technology?
Yes, right now as we
converse, beet seed growers in
Oregon's Willammett Valley are transplanting
planting vernalized
plugs for the first mass seed crop of GMO seed.
This means:
Beet
Sugar and all products that contain this ingredient will most likely
be
GMO
Pollen from GMO sugar beets will soon be flying all over
the sugar beet seed
growing regions potentially contaminating
table beet seed and swiss chard
seed.
Organic seed
growers are threatened by GMO contamination!!!!
The Organic Seed
Alliance along with High Mowing Seed and the Center for
Food
Safety and others has filed suit against the USDA APHIS for allowing
this without proper environmental impact review but there
will be no
imediate injunction against the planting out of this
GMO material. See
www.seedalliance.org for more
information.
I wonder if B.T. Cabbage won't be next.
And then what? The government
continues to approve
these monsters without due process and prudent review.
The
government continues to resist demands to require labeling of GMO
products.
Lucy
Goodman
Boulder Belt Eco-Farm
Eaton, OH
http://boulderbelt.blogspot.com
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Lucy Goodman
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Eaton, OH
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