ROGUE AGENCY CHOOSES \u201cBUSINESS AS USUAL\u201d OVER SOUND SCIENCE<\/em> <\/em><\/p>\n CENTER FOR FOOD SAFETY ANNOUNCES IMMEDIATE LEGAL CHALLENGE TO USDA\u2019S FLAWED ASSESSMENT<\/strong><\/em> \u201cWe\u2019re disappointed with USDA\u2019s decision and we will be back in court representing the interest of farmers, preservation of the environment, and consumer choice\u201d said Andrew Kimbrell, Executive Director for the Center for Food Safety. \u201cUSDA has become a rogue agency in its regulation of biotech crops and its decision to appease the few companies who seek to benefit from this technology comes despite increasing evidence that GE alfalfa will threaten the rights of farmers and consumers, as well as damage the environment.\u201d<\/p>\n On Monday, the Center sent an open letter to Secretary Vilsack<\/a> calling on USDA to base its decision on sound science and the interests of farmers, and to avoid rushing the process to meet the marketing timelines or sales targets of Monsanto, Forage Genetics or other entities.<\/p>\n CFS also addressed several key points that were not properly assessed in the FEIS, among them were:<\/p>\n \u201cWe in the farm sector are dissatisfied but not surprised at the lack of courage from USDA to stop Roundup Ready alfalfa and defend family farmers,\u201d said Pat Trask, conventional alfalfa grower and plaintiff in the alfalfa litigation.<\/p>\n The FEIS comes in response to a 2007 lawsuit brought by CFS, in which a federal court ruled that the USDA\u2019s approval of GE alfalfa violated environmental laws by failing to analyze risks such as the contamination of conventional and organic alfalfa, the evolution of glyphosate-resistant weeds, and increased use of glyphosate herbicide, sold by Monsanto as Roundup.\u00a0 The Court banned new plantings of GE alfalfa until USDA completed a more comprehensive assessment of these impacts. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals twice affirmed the national ban on GE alfalfa planting.\u00a0 In June 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the ban on Monsanto\u2019s Roundup Ready Alfalfa until and unless future deregulation occurs.<\/p>\n \u201cLast spring more than 200,000 people submitted comments to the USDA highly critical of the substance and conclusions of its Draft EIS on GE Alfalfa,\u201d said Kimbrell.\u00a0 \u201cClearly the USDA was not listening to the public or farmers but rather to just a handful of corporations.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" USDA DECISION ON GE ALFALFA LEAVES DOOR OPEN FOR CONTAMINATION, RISE OF SUPERWEEDS ROGUE AGENCY CHOOSES \u201cBUSINESS AS USUAL\u201d OVER SOUND SCIENCE CENTER FOR FOOD SAFETY ANNOUNCES IMMEDIATE LEGAL CHALLENGE TO USDA\u2019S FLAWED ASSESSMENT The Center for Food Safety criticized … Continue reading
\nThe Center for Food Safety criticized the announcement today by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) that it will once again allow unlimited, nation-wide commercial planting of Monsanto\u2019s genetically-engineered (GE) Roundup Ready alfalfa, despite the many risks to organic and conventional farmers USDA acknowledged in its Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS).\u00a0 On a call today with stakeholders, Secretary Vilsack reiterated the concerns surrounding purity and access to non-GE seed, yet the Agency\u2019s decision still places the entire burden for preventing contamination on non-GE farmers, with no protections for food producers, consumers and exporters. <\/em><\/p>\n\n
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