Breaking News! GM Alfalfa Contamination Halts Exports!

I would really like for someone, particularly an “expert” GM bio-engineer, to explain to me again how they think GMO’s can be controlled and why there have been two incidents already this year for contamination!?

I just read last night exports of alfalfa have been rejected due to the presence of a GM variety.

“It’s a sensitive issue,” Castro said.

Umm.. of course it is sensitive! GM crops are supposed to be perfect and predictable and now all of a sudden, they are showing up in places they shouldn’t be. Although GM alfalfa is approved for commercial production in the United States, the farmer whose crop became contaminated said the GM variety was not supposed to be there.

Interestingly enough, many foreign and domestic buyers do not allow GM varieties to be exported into their countries and the possible presence of any could result in lost sales for U.S. farmers. (You think they know something we don’t??)

GM alfalfa is the fourth most widely grown crop in the US behind corn, wheat and soybeans and is a huge money maker for the United States — approximately 1.25 billion dollars was generated in 2012 bringing the record to an ultimate high.

Authorities Not Sure How Contamination Happened, But GMO Opponents Knew This Would Happen

Hector Castro, spokesman at the Washington State Department of Agriculture, said it is not clear if the farmer bought seed that was genetically modified and mislabeled or if his field was contaminated by some other means. And testing could reveal no contamination at all, he noted. (source)

Okkkaaayyyy…. let me get this straight. So what Castro is saying is there is a possibility of contamination happening from mislabeled products. I wonder how many other cases of unnoticed contamination occurs??

For the past decade, GM opponents have been warning the USDA and urging them to not approve alfalfa. Alfalfa is a perennial crop, meaning it is active throughout the year, and is largely pollinated by the honey bees. They warned it would be near impossible to keep the conventional variety from being cross mixed with the GM varieties. Contamination would inevitably occur and it could greatly hurt the conventional and organic alfalfa business — especially organic because GMO’s are not allowed in organic foods.

However the FDA deemed GM alfalfa safe and no different than it’s conventional counterpart, resulting in the approval and first planting of GM alfalfa in 2011. Regardless of what the FDA has deemed safe, foreign buyers from around the world do not allow the import of GM foods because of the health and environment concerns.

Seems like the whole world realizes there is something not-so-good about frankenfoods…

Happening Just in Time for I-522

If you haven’t heard already, Washington state voters will have the choice to decide whether or not they want to pass the ballot initiative and require labeling of genetically modified foods. In the last and most crucial part of the campaign, I think this contamination could not have come at a better time since Washington state is one of the largest exporters of alfalfa. To learn more about the campaign, click here.

GM foods need to be banned until further, adequate testing can prove they are safe for human consumption and the environment. Cases of contamination only proves this need.

Last year, California held a similar initiative, Prop 37, and narrowly lost by a few hundred thousand votes despite the opposition pouring in over 40 million dollars.

If you can help by donating any amount of money to the I-522 campaign, please do. There is good news of polls showing voters in favor of labeling by a huge margin. However we were ahead in CA around this time of the campaign but then the opposition starting dumping in crazy amounts of money and hit voters hard with lies and deceiving campaigns. It is crucial for the funds to be there so I-522 advocates can ensure the right information is available to Washington voters and this ballot initiative can be passed.

• You can donate by clicking on this link.
• To learn more about the campaign and how you can help, click here.

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