Socially and Ecologically Responsible Agriculture Network

[Socially and Ecologically Responsible Agriculture Network <seranet AT lists.ibiblio.org>]

Coexistence = Inexorable Genetic Contamination

Because coexistence is Impossible!

As long as the wind continues to blow and bees continue to
pollinate, the continuous and irreversible contamination of the
genomes of conventional and organic crops (plus those of wild
plants) with GE Genes will increase incrementally year after year.

That said:  What should be done?

Without a doubt: CREATE A NEW STANDARD!

I therefore propose:

1.- A List of Existing Certification Alternatives should be
    elaborated;

2.- The Benefits and Shortcomings of each should be listed also;

3.- Additional factors and attributes can be mentioned and in that
    sense, I suggest the following:

  A.- The Cost of Certification should not raise the Cost of
      Certified Products more than 5-10%;

  B.- Certification should not become a business in itself but
      rather, be carried out by farmers themselves, in the same way
      that mutual support is provided by Open Software Providers
      such as Open Office and the various flavors of Linux and
      other similar Operating Systems (i.e. FreeBSD), although
      travel expenses will have to be covered one way or another;

  C.- A reasonable range of diverse concepts and methods should be
      considered, as long as they adhere to the same basic principles;

  D.- Both Social and Environmental Responsibility must be stressed.

4.- A dedicated list server should be provided for this task and to that
    effect, I can offer the use of Socially and Environmentally
    Responsible Agriculture Network Discussion Group. 

Some of you are already subscribed to SERAnet.  Any others wishing
to register can do so by navigating to:

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Those already registered can send their responses to:

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Or we can continue the discussion here on sanet (or both).

Hopefully, a consensus can be reached within a reasonable time-frame
(given the fact that we are already familiar with the issues).

Lastly: Alliances can created with other groups sharing our beliefs
and values and if needed, a Political Action Committee could be
created in order to further advance our goals.

Douglas

(Please be aware that on SERAnet, personal attacks on other members
will result in the moderation of the offending members posts. Sorry,
but that needed to be said to avoid future misunderstandings).

----------------
  
> The Organic Elite Surrenders to Monsanto: What Now?

>      * By Ronnie Cummins
>        Organic Consumers Association, Jan 27, 2011
>        Straight to the Source

> "The policy set for GE alfalfa will most likely guide policies for other
> GE crops as well. True coexistence is a must."   -  Whole Foods Market,
> Jan. 21, 2011

> In the wake of a 12-year battle to keep Monsanto's Genetically 
> Engineered (GE) crops from contaminating the nation's 25,000 organic
> farms and ranches, America's organic consumers and producers are facing
> betrayal. A self-appointed cabal of the Organic Elite, spearheaded by
> Whole Foods Market, Organic Valley, and Stonyfield Farm, has decided
> it's time to surrender to Monsanto. Top executives from these companies
> have publicly admitted that they no longer oppose the mass 
> commercialization of GE crops, such as Monsanto's controversial Roundup
> Ready alfalfa, and are prepared to sit down and cut a deal for 
> "coexistence" with Monsanto and USDA biotech cheerleader Tom Vilsack.

> In a cleverly worded, but profoundly misleading email sent to its 
> customers last week, Whole Foods Market, while proclaiming their support
> for organics and "seed purity," gave the green light to USDA bureaucrats
> to approve the "conditional deregulation" of Monsanto's genetically 
> engineered, herbicide-resistant alfalfa.  Beyond the regulatory 
> euphemism of "conditional deregulation," this means that WFM and their
> colleagues are willing to go along with the massive planting of a 
> chemical and energy-intensive GE perennial crop, alfalfa; guaranteed to
> spread its mutant genes and seeds across the nation; guaranteed to 
> contaminate the alfalfa fed to organic animals; guaranteed to lead to
> massive poisoning of farm workers and destruction of the essential soil
> food web by the toxic herbicide, Roundup; and guaranteed to produce 
> Roundup-resistant superweeds that will require even more deadly 
> herbicides such as 2,4 D to be sprayed on millions of acres of alfalfa
> across the U.S.

> In exchange for allowing Monsanto's premeditated pollution of the 
> alfalfa gene pool, WFM wants "compensation." In exchange for a new 
> assault on farmworkers and rural communities (a recent large-scale 
> Swedish study found that spraying Roundup doubles farm workers' and 
> rural residents' risk of getting cancer), WFM expects the pro-biotech
> USDA to begin to regulate rather than cheerlead for Monsanto. In payment
> for a new broad spectrum attack on the soil's crucial ability to provide
> nutrition for food crops and to sequester dangerous greenhouse gases
> (recent studies show that Roundup devastates essential soil 
> microorganisms that provide plant nutrition and sequester 
> climate-destabilizing greenhouse gases), WFM wants the Biotech Bully of
> St. Louis to agree to pay "compensation" (i.e. hush money) to farmers
> "for any losses related to the contamination of his crop."

> Read the rest here...
> http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_22449.cfm